If it wasn’t true, Steven Russell’s adventures before lifetime incarceration would be wholly unbelievable. The tale of a man finding his sexuality, then finding he’s really good at conning people out of their money, is so completely ridiculous that you couldn’t make it up. But you could make it into an interesting film, which I Love You Phillip Morris is decidedly not after the film’s main premise is established.
Russell (Jim Carrey) is living a lie of a life. Married to a devout wife (Leslie Mann) with a daughter, he’s a police officer who seemingly has the American dream in front of him. But finding out the depressing truth behind his status as an adopted child, and then in a major auto accident, he decides to come out of the closet as a gay man. But not just an ordinary gay man, rather a flamingly gay man with a unique perception of what the “gay lifestyle” is all about. Russell is in love with the opulent lifestyle but doesn’t have the income to support it; thus he became a con man to fund it all. A skilled one, he eventually would get caught and thrown into prison for insurance fraud. There he meets Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor) and its love at first sight. From there it becomes a series of cons and prison escapes for the two, albeit unwittingly for Morris, leading to Russell’s eventual capture and lifetime imprisonment in solitary confinement.
The thing that stands out most about the film is that it seems more intent to get into the “gay lifestyle” as Russell sees it as opposed to present a true narrative. Russell is obsessed with possessions and an opulent lifestyle, choosing to achieve it by deception as opposed to hard work, and this fuels his many deceptions. And this is a critical flaw due to the story because it makes him into just another con man looking for an easy way to a life of luxury, as opposed to a gay man finding his place in the world with the love of his life who just happens to be a con man. It takes a genuinely interesting story and turns into it one of a con man trying to justify his shirking of the legal means of achieving fame and fortune.
Russell isn’t a good man by any stretch of the imagination, vaguely supporting his wife (after leaving her) and having minimal interactions with his daughter, he’s just charismatic and likeable enough to not be a complete scumbag. This is about him having what he wants without having to work for it and it doesn’t ennoble it like Glenn Ficara and John Requa set it up to be. The fact that he’s gay makes his story peculiar but nothing original. It’s the time honored trade of the practitioner of deception: do something immoral and illegal for money.
Some of the things he does to get out of prison are clever, and his cons are rather intriguing, but there isn’t as much devoted to Russell’s shenanigans as there are moments devoted to him being an outwardly gay man. It is one thing to play a gay character but the entire film is devoted to his sexuality, as if his choice of sexual partners defines who the character is. It gets rather annoying because there’s much more to the film than the fact that Russell is gay but it goes well over the top to establish (and continually establish) that fact. The fact that he’s a con man is kind of short-shrift to the notion that he’s gay. His cons are rather imaginative and yet they’re looked past for another reference to his homosexuality to the point it’s obnoxious.
The whole point to the film is that it’s a biopic about a gay con man that was remarkably clever and yet they focus more on his sexual identity as opposed to the crazy things he did. One instance was him faking having HIV/AIDS to the point where he got transferred to an assisted living care facility, faking his death and having the jail that released him declare him dead based on a conversation with his “doctor.” This is a quick plot point and his cons are all considered in that regard; just quick points to move past until we get to reinforcing the fact that Steven Russell is a gay man. There isn’t a movie if it’s a straight man doing all this stuff for a woman; it’s only slightly intriguing because of the “gay” factor involved. And it rarely works as an engaging film, mainly coasting off the talents of Jim Carrey in what’s easily his riskiest role ever. It’s also one that is practically screaming “nominate me for an Oscar because I’m playing a gay character” as well.
Carrey seemingly has been on a quest for critical respect ever since Man on the Moon, taking some risky dramatic material aimed at prestige season as opposed to his usual light comedic fare, and this is perhaps a combination of his award-seeking behavior (by playing a gay man) and his natural range (raunchy comedy), and Carrey is in his element for the most part. The film would not work without a completely over the top performance with a committed actor and Carrey is absolutely note perfect in that regard. This is a risky role that requires an actor to completely embrace it and Carrey is that guy; he ought to be commended for taking a risky role and doing it with such zeal. However it is a bit showy to the point where it’s grating; he’s almost trying too hard sometimes.
There’s a brilliant film about a con man finding love, and doing anything for it, waiting to come out in I Love You Phillip Morris like Steven Russell waiting to come out of the closet. That’s a film I’d like to see, not this one.
Director: Glenn Ficara and John Requa
Notable Cast: Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann
Writer(s): Glenn Ficara and John Requa based off “I Love You Phillip Morris: A True Story of Life, Love, and Prison Breaks” by Steve McVicker
