Jim Carrey..... I know that he bugs the crap out of many people, and I know a lot of people who are not fans. Personally, I think he's amazing. Sure, the 'pullling faces' and 'hyperactivity' got old a long long time ago, but I think that Jim Carrey, like other comedians - Jerry Lewis, Richard Pryor, Gene Wilder and to some extent even Adam Sandler - has a certain sadness about him, a vulnerability, and when Jim Carrey plays it straight,he conveys that sadness really well.
This movie played at the Sundance Film Festival a couple of years ago, but took 2 years to get a distributor, I am guessing because of the gay theme of the film. Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa who wrote the fantastic Bad Santa, this movie tells the true story of Stevan Russell, a married man who after years of living a double life (he's gay), decides to live his life the way he wants. He is also a con-man, and lands himself in jail where he meets Phillip Morris(Ewan McGregor). They fall madly in love,and Steven goes to extraordinarly lengths to never be separated from Phillip again including impersonating lawyers, judges, doctors, police, escapes from prison many times.. and many equally bizarre and unbelievable things.
The story is beyond belief! Kinda like 'Catch me if you can'... You watch it in amazement, as Steven does one unbelievable thing after another for love.
Jim Carrey plays this one straight, and I think it is his best performance since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which is one of my favorite ever films). Ewan McGregor as Phillip is very good too "You know what happens to blonde haired blue eyed queer boys out in the yard"...
If I have a criticism of this movie, is that it's delivery is confusing. It's a drama, it's a comedy, it's a farce all at the same time,and I think it fails because it is trying to be too much. In my opinion, the directors should have picked one and stuck to it. It's kind of all over the place, and sometimes, Steven becomes Jim Carrey and the illusion is ruined. It's not as tight as it could have been, and whenever Jim Carrey pulled one of his "Cable Guy" faces, it was distracting. I think that the sheer force of Jim Carrey's personality pulls this movie off track,it definitely could have been tighter.
Having said that, I liked the film, I commend them for making it. It is a brave, entertaining, incredible story and I enjoyed watching it. I hope Jim Carrey does more films like this in the future.
3/5
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