I Love You Phillip Morris
Encyclopedia
I Love You Phillip Morris is a 2009 American romantic
comedy-drama film based on the 1980s and '90s real-life story of con artist, impostor, and multiple prison escapee Steven Jay Russell
, as played by Jim Carrey
. While incarcerated, Russell falls in love with his fellow inmate, Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor
). After Morris is released from prison, Russell escapes from prison four times in order to be reunited with Morris. The film was adapted from I Love You Phillip Morris: A True Story of Life, Love, and Prison Breaks by Steve McVicker. The film is the directorial debut of Glenn Ficarra
and John Requa
. It grossed a little over $20 million worldwide after its limited theatrical release.
(Jim Carrey
) is on his deathbed, recalling the events of his life. He spent his early adult years in Virginia Beach as a police officer. He plays the organ at church, has unenthusiastic sex with his wife, Debbie (Leslie Mann
), and spends his off hours searching for his biological mother, who gave him up as a child. Steven locates his biological mother, but she rejects him without explanation.
After a car crash, Steven leaves his family and previous life behind (though he keeps in touch with his wife and young daughter), and explores the world as his true self - a gay
man. He moves to Miami, finds a boyfriend (Rodrigo Santoro
), and lives a luxurious lifestyle. To keep himself and his boyfriend in the style to which they have become accustomed, Steven becomes a con man. Steven is caught and sent to prison, where he falls in love with inmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor
).
Steven cannot bear to be separated from Phillip. After being released, he helps get Phillip freed from prison by posing as a lawyer, then attains wealth by fraudulently acquiring a position as chief financial officer
of a large company.
Steven eventually gets caught embezzling
from the company, and goes back to prison. Phillip is also sent to jail as an accomplice, and angrily tells Steven he never wants to see him again. Months later, Phillip learns from another inmate that Steven is dying of AIDS
. Heartbroken, Phillip calls Steven while he is in the infirmary and confesses that while he is still upset with Steven for lying to him, he still loves him. Phillip is later told that Steven has died.
Sometime later, Phillip is taken to meet with his lawyer and finds Steven waiting for him. Steven describes how he faked having AIDS and dying in order to see Phillip again, and promises to never lie to him again. He runs one last con to break Phillip out out of jail, only to be caught when he runs into an old coworker.
The end of the movie explains that the real-life Phillip Morris was released from jail in 2006, but Steven is still imprisoned, on 23-hour lockup, only having one free hour a day to shower and exercise.
The last scene shows Steven laughing joyfully while running across the prison yard, guards in pursuit, in another attempt to be with Phillip.
that Consolidated Pictures Group has acquired the rights for distribution.
, Taiwan
, and Japan
between February and April 2010. Although a limited run in the United States was initially scheduled for April 30, 2010, it was later reported that the film's release had been indefinitely postponed by its distributors, Consolidated Pictures Group but on April 12, 2010, Variety
announced the distributor had had a change of heart and that I Love You Phillip Morris would be shown in limited theaters starting July 30 before expanding nationwide on August 6.
On June 3, 2010, the film was delayed yet again due to legal battles. The film was finally released on December 3, 2010, after Roadside Attractions
and Liddell Entertainment acquired the rights to distribute in the United States.
reports that 71% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 141 reviews, with an average score of 6.7/10. The critical consensus is: "This fact-based romantic comedy has its flaws, but they're mostly overcome by its consistently sweet, funny tone and one of the best performances of Jim Carrey's career."
Damon Wise of The Times
gave the film four stars out of five stating, "I Love You Phillip Morris" is an extraordinary film that serves as a reminder of just how good Carrey can be when he's not tied into a generic Hollywood crowd-pleaser. His comic timing remains as exquisite as ever."
Xan Brooks of The Guardian
also gave the film a positive review, describing the movie as "fast, funny and rather daring. A whisk of caffeine with a center that's sweet."
Romance (genre)
As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...
comedy-drama film based on the 1980s and '90s real-life story of con artist, impostor, and multiple prison escapee Steven Jay Russell
Steven Jay Russell
Steven Jay Russell is a U.S. con artist and impostor, known for escaping from prison multiple times. He has received numerous nicknames, including "Houdini" and "King Con." A film about his life and crimes was produced in 2009, named I Love You Phillip Morris, starring Jim Carrey as Steven Jay...
, as played by Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey
James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...
. While incarcerated, Russell falls in love with his fellow inmate, Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
). After Morris is released from prison, Russell escapes from prison four times in order to be reunited with Morris. The film was adapted from I Love You Phillip Morris: A True Story of Life, Love, and Prison Breaks by Steve McVicker. The film is the directorial debut of Glenn Ficarra
Glenn Ficarra
Glen Ficarra is an American writer, producer, actor and director.Ficarra met John Requa at Pratt Institute, where both were studying film. After college they went to work in animation for the TV channel Nickelodeon....
and John Requa
John Requa
John Requa is a screen writer of Cats & Dogs, Bad Santa and the 2005 remake Bad News Bears.The DVD commentary for Bad News Bears revealed that Requa was to have had a bit role in the film, but it was not shot....
. It grossed a little over $20 million worldwide after its limited theatrical release.
Plot
Steven Jay RussellSteven Jay Russell
Steven Jay Russell is a U.S. con artist and impostor, known for escaping from prison multiple times. He has received numerous nicknames, including "Houdini" and "King Con." A film about his life and crimes was produced in 2009, named I Love You Phillip Morris, starring Jim Carrey as Steven Jay...
(Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey
James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...
) is on his deathbed, recalling the events of his life. He spent his early adult years in Virginia Beach as a police officer. He plays the organ at church, has unenthusiastic sex with his wife, Debbie (Leslie Mann
Leslie Mann
Leslie Mann is an American actress best known for her roles in comedic films, many of which are collaborations with her husband, Judd Apatow.-Early life:...
), and spends his off hours searching for his biological mother, who gave him up as a child. Steven locates his biological mother, but she rejects him without explanation.
After a car crash, Steven leaves his family and previous life behind (though he keeps in touch with his wife and young daughter), and explores the world as his true self - a gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
man. He moves to Miami, finds a boyfriend (Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo Junqueira dos Reis Santoro is a Brazilian actor.-Life and career:Santoro was born in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro. He is of half Brazilian and half Italian descent. In 1993, as Santoro was studying Journalism at PUC-Rio, he entered the Actor's Workshop of Rede Globo...
), and lives a luxurious lifestyle. To keep himself and his boyfriend in the style to which they have become accustomed, Steven becomes a con man. Steven is caught and sent to prison, where he falls in love with inmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
).
Steven cannot bear to be separated from Phillip. After being released, he helps get Phillip freed from prison by posing as a lawyer, then attains wealth by fraudulently acquiring a position as chief financial officer
Chief financial officer
The chief financial officer or Chief financial and operating officer is a corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation. This officer is also responsible for financial planning and record-keeping, as well as financial reporting to higher management...
of a large company.
Steven eventually gets caught embezzling
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
from the company, and goes back to prison. Phillip is also sent to jail as an accomplice, and angrily tells Steven he never wants to see him again. Months later, Phillip learns from another inmate that Steven is dying of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. Heartbroken, Phillip calls Steven while he is in the infirmary and confesses that while he is still upset with Steven for lying to him, he still loves him. Phillip is later told that Steven has died.
Sometime later, Phillip is taken to meet with his lawyer and finds Steven waiting for him. Steven describes how he faked having AIDS and dying in order to see Phillip again, and promises to never lie to him again. He runs one last con to break Phillip out out of jail, only to be caught when he runs into an old coworker.
The end of the movie explains that the real-life Phillip Morris was released from jail in 2006, but Steven is still imprisoned, on 23-hour lockup, only having one free hour a day to shower and exercise.
The last scene shows Steven laughing joyfully while running across the prison yard, guards in pursuit, in another attempt to be with Phillip.
Cast
- Jim CarreyJim CarreyJames Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...
as Steven Jay RussellSteven Jay RussellSteven Jay Russell is a U.S. con artist and impostor, known for escaping from prison multiple times. He has received numerous nicknames, including "Houdini" and "King Con." A film about his life and crimes was produced in 2009, named I Love You Phillip Morris, starring Jim Carrey as Steven Jay... - Ewan McGregorEwan McGregorEwan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
as Phillip Morris - Leslie MannLeslie MannLeslie Mann is an American actress best known for her roles in comedic films, many of which are collaborations with her husband, Judd Apatow.-Early life:...
as Debbie - Rodrigo SantoroRodrigo SantoroRodrigo Junqueira dos Reis Santoro is a Brazilian actor.-Life and career:Santoro was born in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro. He is of half Brazilian and half Italian descent. In 1993, as Santoro was studying Journalism at PUC-Rio, he entered the Actor's Workshop of Rede Globo...
as Jimmy - Antoni CoroneAntoni CoroneAntoni Corone is an American actor and producer who lives in Hollywood, Florida.He was raised in Willoughby and Wickliffe, Ohio. When character player Corone launched his screen career in the mid-1980s, producers immediately foresaw a perfect niche for him, and started casting him as rugged,...
as Lindholm - Brennan BrownBrennan BrownBrennan Brown is an American actor, perhaps best known for playing Orange's spoof film board executive Mr. Dresden in the long-running series of UK cinema ads.-Orange Wednesday adverts:...
as Larry Birkheim - Michael Showers as Gary
- Marc MacaulayMarc MacaulayMarc Macaulay is an American actor.He was born and raised in Millinocket, Maine. He graduated with a BFA in theater. He recently appeared in the new USA Network Series Burn Notice for five episodes as Agent Harris, and as "Blaine Bauer" in the horror film Thirteen Floors.Some of his most prominent...
as Houston Cop - Michael Mandel as Cleavon
Production
After original difficulty finding a U.S. distributor, likely due to its explicit gay sexual content, the film was re-edited. In May 2009, it was announced by VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
that Consolidated Pictures Group has acquired the rights for distribution.
Release
The film was released in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
between February and April 2010. Although a limited run in the United States was initially scheduled for April 30, 2010, it was later reported that the film's release had been indefinitely postponed by its distributors, Consolidated Pictures Group but on April 12, 2010, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
announced the distributor had had a change of heart and that I Love You Phillip Morris would be shown in limited theaters starting July 30 before expanding nationwide on August 6.
On June 3, 2010, the film was delayed yet again due to legal battles. The film was finally released on December 3, 2010, after Roadside Attractions
Roadside Attractions
Roadside Attractions is a US film distributor based in Los Angeles, California, founded in 2003, specializing largely in independent films.Lionsgate bought a partial stake in Roadside in 2007.-List of films released by Roadside Attractions:...
and Liddell Entertainment acquired the rights to distribute in the United States.
Critical reception
I Love You Phillip Morris has received largely positive reviews. Review aggregate Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 71% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 141 reviews, with an average score of 6.7/10. The critical consensus is: "This fact-based romantic comedy has its flaws, but they're mostly overcome by its consistently sweet, funny tone and one of the best performances of Jim Carrey's career."
Damon Wise of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
gave the film four stars out of five stating, "I Love You Phillip Morris" is an extraordinary film that serves as a reminder of just how good Carrey can be when he's not tied into a generic Hollywood crowd-pleaser. His comic timing remains as exquisite as ever."
Xan Brooks of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
also gave the film a positive review, describing the movie as "fast, funny and rather daring. A whisk of caffeine with a center that's sweet."