When a movie spends as much time on the shelf awaiting release as I Love You Phillip Morris — which has been in the can for a good two years now — it’s often safe to assume that there’s something terribly wrong with it. Not so in this case, though: well-received in its worldwide release throughout the course of this year, the film’s major stumbling block on its way to U.S. theaters was legal wrangling over its distribution that dragged on and on, delaying the film’s release for months. Happily, it was worth the wait.
While the U.S. trailers play up the more typically goofy aspects of Jim Carrey’s performance as real-life con-artist Steven Russell — who engaged in a series of scams ranging from insurance fraud to embezzling funds on large scale, as well as multiple rather brilliantly executed escapes from prison — this is anything but a typical Carrey comedy. Yes, he gets the chance to flex those rubbery facial muscles in service of some over-the-top character work, but this isn’t just an exercise in schtick: writer/directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa have fashioned a witty, big-hearted romantic comedy out of journalist Steve McVicker’s book about Russell’s bizarre misadventures, and the sweet relationship that develops between him and his titular fellow inmate (played by Ewan McGregor) during his first prison stint.
Russell starts the movie as a fairly typical family man, with a wife, two kids, a local law enforcement job and a gig on weekends accompanying the church choir on keyboard. But after a devastating personal discovery about his mother and a serious car accident, he decides to change things up. He quits the force, moves the family and gets a new job. When he’s still feeling unfulfilled, he comes to terms with the fact that he’s actually gay and leaves them altogether for a new life, new haircut, new wardrobe and new boyfriend in Florida. But the new lifestyle is more than his income will bear, and as he looks for new sources of cash, he comes to the realization that he’s an incredibly skilled con artist. Skilled, but sloppy; which is how he ends up in prison.
