I Love You Phillip Morris

PREVIOUSLY: DECEPTION

A 2009 romantic dramedy based on a true story, I Love You Phillip Morris is adapted from the book of the same name by journalist Steve McVicker. After a near-death experience, model citizen Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) comes out as gay and becomes a conman. While serving time in prison, he meets the man he believes is the love of his life: Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor,) and is willing to pull any con to enable them to live the free life of luxury he believes they deserve.

If you haven’t seen this movie, I will be spoiling it. Please do yourself a favor and stop reading. Come back later. Watch it without knowing the ending. This is honestly one of those movies I wish I could go back and watch again for the first time. This re-watch was fine, but I highly recommend going in as blind as possible for an initial viewing.

I was absolutely petrified right before I watched this movie for the first time. I didn’t know it was based on a true story, all I knew was that it was a 2009 comedy about two gay prisoners who fall in love. I was quaking in my boots. I had no clue how it was going to be handled. I presumed it would be homophobic. The question was, just how homophobic would it be?

I was delighted to find that it wasn’t? Not really. The characters are funny but are completely sympathetic throughout. The characters themselves–and their sexuality–are never really the butt of the joke. The “falling in love with my cellmate in prison” montage is my favorite part of the whole thing. It manages to make me laugh out loud while being genuinely sweet.

I honestly think these are two of the best performances of Jim Carrey’s and Ewan McGregor’s careers. They both perfectly walk the line between comedic and dramatic performances. They also have a ton of chemistry together. While Ewan’s portrayal may come off as a bit of a stereotype, he met and spent time with the real Phillip Morris, who later went on record to say he was delighted by how well Ewan portrayed him. (He also has a cameo at the end, as Russell’s defense attorney.)

While a lot of the movie is wacky fun, it is based on a true story, and the ending to that story is a gut punch. Phillip Morris maintains his ignorance of and innocence in Russell’s schemes. That didn’t stop him from serving years in prison as an accessory to fraud. He considers himself one of Russell’s victims.

While Steven Russell did hurt and take advantage of people, the fact that a nonviolent offender can be sentenced to life in prison in solitary confinement is a gross miscarriage of justice. He was permitted the possibility of parole, which was granted at the beginning of 2023. Over a year later, he has yet to be granted a release date. I highly recommend reading this article he wrote in 2018, discussing his circumstances, how he’s changed and survived in solitary for (at the time) twenty-two years, and how he’s given up escape attempts and hopes to be released legitimately on parole “some day.”

While this movie doesn’t necessarily play the same way on a re-watch, I do think it needs to be talked about more. Its portrayal of a toxic gay relationship, its humanization of imperfect people, and the light it shines on the horrific criminal justice system of the United States and Texas in particular while striking a perfectly comedic tone deserves more recognition. It’s one of those movies that makes you laugh so you don’t cry.

COMING UP NEXT: ANGELS & DEMONS