Mar
16
Film: I Love You Phillip Morris
I love you, Jim Carrey. After six years of old flexi-face phoning in performances in dross like Yes Man and Fun With Dick & Jane, he's finally come back to us and delivered on all those promises he made in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. If you see a more watchable gay, prison-breaking, confused, charismatic, embezzling, flamboyant con-artist than 48-year-old Carrey's Steven Jay Russell this year...well, let us know.
After an epiphany sparked by a personal trauma, Steven abandons his wholesome, Christian, cookies-and-milk American family life and takes the gay-train to Florida. Embracing every silk-shirted extravagance that the sunshine state has to offer, he loses himself in a parties-and-presents lifestyle that he simply can't afford, unless he steals. All the white slip-on shoes in the world can't blind the law and it's not long before our boy is behind bars. But it's all been leading him to one serendipitous occasion: his first meeting with a benevolent and good-souled young man, one Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). They live happily ever after. Well, not quite.
It's a neat trick to be really funny AND soulful without the latter plummeting into the schmaltz abyss, but writer-directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (who penned the similarly-risqué Bad Santa) make I Love You... so effortlessly funny and involving that you'd wonder how so many romantic comedies - even the bawdy ones - get it so disgustingly wrong. They love Steven for all his flaws, his deceit, his dishonesty and his almost Jason Bourne-like spoofing skills. Even though he may be lying through his very white and very straight teeth about everything else, we always know he loves Phillip entirely. It helps that old elastic-face is perfect too. Showing signs of that ever-manoeuvrable skin starting to slip ever-so-slowly off his skull, Carrey makes you really want to like his talented Mr.Russell despite his manipulative ways. Never straying into turbo-wacky mode when the laughs are called for, and convincingly tender for the mutual adoration he and Phillip share, he's made a brand-new Jim Carrey to accompany the serious one, the physical one and the hilarious one. As his better half, McGregor is really believable, really lovable and really, really gay.
Considering the film was rumoured to have been re-edited for its sexual content after receiving the box office poison NC-17 certificate in the US, how audiences will accept the two leading men in all their sexually confident sparkle might just hinge on the ever elusive 'word of mouth' factor. If there's any justice that should be in its favour, as the whole romp is consistently fun - bolstered by a deadpan but emphatic voiceover from Carrey - without the need for gross-out set-pieces that have little or nothing to do with the plot. Yes, there are a lot of gay jokes; our characters are gay.
Yes, a lot of them are funny and always derived from the story - similar in ethos to another champion comedy writing duo, South Park scribes Trey Parker and Matt Stone. And if that doesn't do it for you, then a dramatic/comedic twist that our dirty rotten scoundrel pulls out of the bag, just when we think he's fresh out of juice, should do the job. It's a move of such barmy bravado - while at the same time making perfect sense - that it should have liberals and conservatives alike just wanting to tell someone about it.
IN SHORT: All the colours of the rainbow. A very naughty but nice romantic comedy that's surprisingly moving, with bold performances and a twist that Eric Cartman will wish he'd thought of first.
Released: Wednesday March 17th
Rating: 16
Duration: 1hr 36mins
News and Previews
Film Reviews
Film Trailers
Search
Latest Articles
- Ireland's Simon Fagan wins major songwriting award
- TV Guide: Tuesday, 04 May 2010
- Gig of the Day:Pavement, Villagers - Dublin Tripod
- Investment Dress of the week
- Lancome and Yayoi Kusama Join Forces
- Leonard Cohen returns to Ireland
- Film News: Bond franchise suspended
- Gig of the Day: New York Dolls, Academy Dublin
Search Engine Optimisation
- Consultancy -
- Facebook Campaigns -
- Technical SEO -
- Social Media Advertising -
- Off Site SEO -
Definitive customised
20 page website audit
Social Media Management
– Tweets –
– Status Updates –
– Links to Sites –
– Multi Media –
– Video Distribution –
