Moofies - I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)

EXPECTATIONS: All I know is that this is a film I've never heard of starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.

REALITY: This was pretty messy.

The film begins with Carrey looking really sick in a hospital bed, narrating his life story to us. He was adopted, he gets married, has a kid, is a seemingly all-American straight guy, but he's secretly gay. He's also a con artist.

Right from the beginning of the film the story jumps all over the place and takes on too many plot points and too many genres for one film. It's based on a supposedly true story, but that doesn't mean that every aspect of the true story has to be on screen. Someone needed to hack at this a lot more before it reached its final cut. At one point Carrey approaches his birth mother and is rejected, and that's where that story ends. His adoption and rejection, all over in two scenes that should have been left on the cutting room floor because they relate to nothing else in the entire film.

Carrey goes to prison for being a conman, meets Ewan McGregor, and they fall in love. McGregor is 110% in love with Carrey in this film; I completely bought his performance, but Carrey just hams it up to the max. I think Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind proved that in order for Carrey to pull off a serious performance he needs to tone it down by about a million, which he doesn't do in I Love You Phillip Morris.

There are comedic moments, a couple which made me laugh, but there are far too many completely ridiculous stereotypes and over generalizations. When Carrey comes out of the closet he begins to rob more money because "being gay is sooo expensive". Ugh. When Carrey and McGregor re-unite they don't have a massive big loving kiss; McGregor goes straight to Carrey's zipper excitedly and as he's giving him a blow job Carrey winces in a "comical" manner ,"Ouch! Don't bite!". According to the film makers all gay men think about is cocks and expensive clothing.

I'm surprised this film got funding, but I was still interested enough in the storyline and McGregor's performance to watch it all the way through.

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