Review of I Love You Phillip Morris (2010) by Arnaud D — 11 Jun 2011

I love how in just about every European trailer for this film, they try their hardest to avoid saying "gay", where in the U.S. trailer, Jim Carrey says "gay" 6 times within barely 5 seconds not 15 seconds into the trailer alone. But seriously though, let us discuss the "Brokeback Mountain" of comedies, only without the compelling story and remarkable performances. Oh wait, that's two of the many things that make this movie absolutely fabulooooous! Real quick, while we're comparing this to "Brokeback Mountain", I'm gonna support my campaign that it's not just a simple-minded, full-on gay movie by saying that if you saw and enjoyed this movie, then it makes "Brokeback" look like "Fast & Furious", because as we all know, there's nothing gay about "Fast & Furious". It's also a great way to further my other campaign that Alabama isn't just full of a bunch of idiotic, racist slobs, Daniel Tosh, because, as I've implied, I really enjoyed this film, in spite of the just plain absurd amount of gay stuff. But seriously though, this film does overdo it with the gay aspects and features other flaws, such as a rushed development, a repetative score, underused characters and slow spots.

In spite of this, the film features good cenimatography and good dialogue. It especially boasts a compelling story, excellent performances, charming character chemistry and hilarity. Of course, as funny as this film is, it does hit some major dramatic notes that really hit home. Credit goes out to the filmmakers for conveying emotional resonance in spite of the awkwardness. Still, what really carries this emotional impact are the great performances from McGregor and, of course, Carrey.

Now, as much as I've recently been excessively bragging about how great Jim Carrey is, there's really no avoiding a discussion about how phenomenal he is in this film. Getting the small but still remarkable stuff in Carrey's performance out of the way, his ability to nail an authentic southern accent is stunning, as is his really hit-home emoting. Those two factors alone make this arguably Jim Carrey's most daring role, but what hands-down certainly makes this his most daring role is the gay stuff. As much as I wanted to turn away from it, I found myself too amazed at how committed Carrey was to making it believable and have genuine chemistry and let me assure you that he succeeds with flying colors. Of course, the icing on the cake is that he not only gets to show off just how stunning he is as a competent actor, but still gets to do some more of his knock-you-out-cold comedic acting. You've never even heard of a funny gay guy until you see Jim Carrey play one. Finally being able to attract his wide comedy-loving fanbase, only to surprise it with one of his most competent and well-done performances yet, Jim Carrey has reached a turning point in his transition into becoming a fully distinguished actor and has opened doors to some major opportunities in the serious acting industry.

Ultimately, "I Love You Phillip Morris" is a charming and hilarious, when not genuinely moving film, as well a major accomplishment for Jim Carrey, who boldly leads the film with one of the best performances of his career, which, believe it or not, is saying a heck of a lot.