I had the absolute privilege of being able to see this at a pre-screening in May of 2009. Having only seen the poster online, I had no idea what to expect from this film. I knew that Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor were in it, that it was based on a true story, and that it was somewhat of a comedy. Two hours later I left that theater saying to myself and peers that that was one of the most incredible true stories that I've ever seen- especially the end. It says something in the beginning of the film like, "this film is based on a true story, I swear....this really happened....really." People were laughing, but this was such a necessary thing to disclose, because, by the end of the film, the entire plot seems totally fanciful.
The film stars Jim Carrey as Steven Russell. Steven separates from his wife early on in the film because well....he's 100% gay. We find this out in an explicitly awkward yet funny scene while Steven is bedding who we think is his wife, then as the head rises we see that it's....yup, a man screaming "fuck my ass!!" The theater was shocked by this; Gasps were heard followed by laughs throughout the crowd. It's from this point forward that we now know exactly what is going on here, and the film really takes off. We soon find out that Steven's also a con man and an impostor. He's one of the best con men I've seen on the silver screen. He's out there conning everybody, and he's addicted to it. He's buying gold watches, lavish cars, boats, and even houses. He even cons his way into landing himself a mid six figure a year job. But it catches up to him. Soon after getting thrown in jail he meets, the one, the only, Phillip Morris played by Ewan McGregor and yes they fall in love. The things that Steven does for Phillip in jail are amazing, going as far as somehow getting himself transfered into the same cell as Phillip, just like that. The film has a very odd feel to it. It's a bit of Catch Me If You Can, a bit of Brokeback Mountain, and a bit of The Truman Show mixed with Me Myself and Irene. It took some getting used to at first. I really want to talk more about what this guy did but I just cant give it away. I will say that as the film goes on Steven escapes from jail MULTIPLE times and does something at the end of the film for Phillip that I still can't believe. Simply one of the best endings I've ever seen. I can't wait until this gets released so that I can take everyone I know and just watch their reactions to it.
Hopefully this will get a proper release date soon. It's best bet would be before Oscar season because Carrey would have a good chance at getting a nom. 4 and 1/2 outa 5.
