I Love You Phillip Morris (2010)

Directed by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa. Starring Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro, Brennan Brown, Antoni Corone, Michael Showers. [R]

Rearranged chronology and artistic license aside, this based-on-truth story of Steven Jay Russell (Carrey) is so arresting (pun not really intended, but what the heck?) that it’s easy to overlook some dramatic weaknesses and tonal inconsistencies. The early scenes are uncertain in how to set up this larger-than-life character—a police officer who becomes a con artist and prison escapee, a man married to a “true believer” (Mann) before he comes out as a homosexual, an assured romantic devoted to the titular lover (McGregor) he meets in prison while habitually deceiving him at nearly every turn, etc.—but once the filmmakers establish a cheeky, stylized rhythm to the story (a tragedy goosed up with more laughter than the star has generated on film in over a decade), it’s easy to get swept up in the startling course of events and the ironic juxtaposition of reality and the fantasy in which Russell and Morris live. Carrey’s lunatic determination perfectly suits the role, but McGregor is stuck playing the same note too often (as presented here, Morris seems a little too sweet and earnest to be true). The real Philip Morris makes a cameo appearance as a lawyer. Debuted at Sundance almost two years before its U.S. release at the end of 2010.

76/100