I love you, I Love You Phillip Morris

I expected myself to get most entertainment from watching Ewan McGregor and Jim Carrey behaving gay, however, their relationship is so true and natural that it just made me jealous. Steven Russell’s story is not a very funny one. Thinking about it now, it is rather a sad one instead. The guy is still in jail waiting there for death in complete isolation. So if it’s not that funny, then what makes I Love You Phillip Morris so pleasurable to watch?
There are films that are simply charming and witty, I guess and no matter how boring or how different from what we normally like, the plot is, we still enjoy them more than anything. I remember when I used to watch only the films that interested me thematically. There were not that many of them, but still, I have managed to avoid a bunch of good ones. I don’t exactly remember which films has completely changed my attitude, but I believe it was something between The Talented Mr Ripley and Dog Day Afternoon. When reading the cover, I would had never seen them, but because I was asked to watch them, I discovered the x factor of the cinema- the script. Of course script revolves around the story, but what really makes it work is the dialogues. I Love You Phillip Morris offers us some great punch lines, some refreshing statements and new way of speaking romantically. The plot keeps our attention, but these are the dialogues that truly make this film work so well.

These are also the dialogues that create a wonderful chemistry between Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor. Although the film is filled with actual events and action, the relationship between the characters is never moved to the background. We care about both of them, we understand both of them and we sympathize with them. Although Steven Russell is an asshole, there is a satisfying excuse for it. That way whatever he does, his life becomes more important to us than our sense of morality. He stays over the law throughout the whole film and we want to keep him there.
Although advertised as a ‘feel-good’ comedy, I feel weirdly sad after watching it. Steven Russell, who devoted his whole life desperately trying to lead the greatest life with his beloved one, is kept in isolation twenty three hours a day. I really hope that I Love You Phillip Morris doesn’t remain just another feel-good movie, and instead becomes a manifest regarding Steven’s liberation.