| I Love You Phillip Morris |  |
So many movies so little time… It’s tough when you’re trying to see all the year’s best movies before the new year, especially when they’re all released in December. So sometimes I have to find my own means to see some of them, if you catch my drift. This one was more that I just wanted to see, it cause I’d actually heard the true story before, I didn’t even look at any reviews. Luckily I enjoyed the experience, I didn’t love it, but I don’t regret it,
Steven Jay Russel (Jim Carrey) was an infamous con man during the late 80s and early 90s. Posing under a whole multitude of different personas, Russell made millions through insurance fraud. Sort of reminds me of Catch Me if You Can, but this story has one big difference, Steven wasn’t just caught… He was caught tons of times. He almost became better known as an escape artist than a con man through his ingeniously devised breakouts. Though You couldn’t really talk about Russell without mention of his better half, his gay lover Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). A naive and soft spoken man, the two meet in prison and immediately form a lifelong bond, but can that be upheld with Steven’s addiction to fraud?
I’ve never really been a big Jim Carrey fan, but I find as he’s gotten older he’s mellowed out a little. Sure he’s still playing a flamboyant, con man, with a southern accent, but usually he keeps it in check, only going over the top every once in awhile. Though Ewan McGregor stands out more firmly in my mind, it’s good to see him take on a more unusual role.
I Love You Phillip Morris isn’t quite award season caliber, but it’s still an amusing and fascinating flick, made only more fascinating by the fact that it’s true. It most likely wont be nominated for anything, although I did love the score by Nick Urata, who along with his band DeVotchKa, also did the score to Little Miss Sunshine. So when it comes down to it, I guess you could just say that “I Like Philip Morris.”