The first time I heard Jim Carrey was starring in a movie called “I Love You Phillip Morris,” I figured, “Phillip Morris? Why, that movie’s probably about smoking.” As it turns out, Jim Carrey’s character in the film does love smoking. …PENISES! HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, get it? He likes smoking penises? Seriously though, he’s gay. Not sure if you caught that.
(I’m not homophobic, the French subtitles are.)
After the jump, I’ve got the new trailer for I Love You Phillip Morris, in which Jim Carrey plays Steven Russell, a Texas family man who gets in a car accident, realizes he’s gay, becomes a con man to support his new habit of buying fancy clothes, goes to prison where he falls in love with Ewan McGregor, and keeps escaping and getting thrown back again. It’s almost as if gayness was his gateway vice. Here’s the description of the original book from Amazon:
Steven Russell, the subject of this true crime story, is a rare individual, a genius who has run afoul of the law, a prodigious intellect endowed with boundless energy, audacity and guile. Russell pulled off his first jailbreak while waving a stolen walkie-talkie at a guard as he sauntered out the front gate, and his last escape — a feat of staggering self-discipline — by faking a terminal case of AIDS over several months and forging his own death certificate. Russell also walked out of prison and into a six-figure job as a CFO of a major company-twice.
I’m intrigued by the story, but I don’t I like the direction they went with it. Call me crazy, but it’s a little hard for me to take a movie seriously when a guy jumps face first onto concrete from three stories, then shows up in the next scene with a bandage on his nose like Wile E. Coyote. But it’s about a gay love story, so you know the academy will be paying attention. The new coolest thing is watching two dudes make out for uncomfortably long periods of time to prove how open-minded you are. Or as I like to call it, Thursday.
I Love You, Phillip Morris, a movie in which Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor play gay lovers, is having a hard time finding a distributor and might end up going straight to DVD. Some people say the reason is that the explicit gay scenes are scaring off buyers. Britain’s Times Online says:
Film industry insiders said the movie, which features a graphic sex scene and frequent references to gay sex, had fallen foul of anti-gay prejudice in America. Britain is one of only a handful of European countries where a deal has been secured to show the movie, which is due for cinema release this summer. The film is currently being re-edited in a last ditch attempt to find an American distributor. If it fails to do so, it will go straight to DVD.
You have to take that with a grain of salt because (1) they quote a nameless source and (2) seem to be congratulating themselves on not being homophobic like us backwoods Americans. CHUD says:
The film, which is very funny and surprisingly touching, does feature explicit gay sex. Really, really explicit gay sex. Involving Jim Carrey. Cumming in a guy’s ass. Yeah, that explicit. [Okay, settle down, I doubt they showed the actual semen]
[Saying the gay scenes are the reason it's not getting picked up] might be a little short-sighted; Phillip Morris has only played Sundance so far, where it got decent but not swooning reviews, and it’s not a cheap movie in indie terms. The film cost about 13 million, so I’m assuming the producers are asking for a [big] chunk of change.
I haven’t seen the movie so I don’t know whether it’s worth seeing, and I don’t think people should be scared off solely because of gay scenes. But I resent the idea that not wanting to watch gay love scenes = homophobic. I have no bias against gay people and I’m willing to sit through gay stuff if the movie’s good, but two dudes kissing is still uncomfortable to watch. There, I said it. Look, I love my grandma too – not wanting to watch her blow a dude on camera doesn’t mean I’m prejudiced against grandmas.
Jim Carrey plays a gay guy in I Love You Phillip Morris, and in case that wasn’t uncomfortable enough, they also made him do a really bad southern accent. I still don’t know what the hell to make of this movie. It seems like a nice departure from the usual crap, subject matter-wise, but the tone looks hokey Hollywood to the nth degree. And I still can’t get over them naming a guy Phillip Morris if the movie has nothing to do with tobacco products. Yeah, maybe it’s just a name, but would people take Casablanca as seriously if it were about a love triangle between RJR Nabisco, MacDonnel Douglas, and Lorna Doone?
Jim Carrey should a Vera DeMilo movie. She was a female bodybuilder. It’s funny because Jim Carrey is a man. Read the rest of this entry »
Jim Carrey released a new still from I Love You Phillip Morris, which is apparently some kind of prison rape comedy.
“I Love You Phillip Morris” tells the story of Steven Russell (Jim Carrey), a married conman who found himself in a Texan prison where he fell in love with Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). Steven Russell tried to escape from prison four times, coming up with more and more elaborate plans, including once faking his own death. Morris was eventually released but Russell landed over a hundred years behind bars because of his escape attempts. The script was written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa from a book by Houston Chronicle crime reporter Steve McVicker.
So… this guy goes to jail and falls in love with someone whose name just happens to be the same as a tobacco conglomerate? Seems like you’d want to rename him for the movie so people don’t confuse it for social commentary. Like that documentary, Pound My Man-Butt, RJR Nabisco. Least I think it was a documentary. Either way, it was pretty hot.
