The Freak Flag of Jim Carrey

I have mixed reactions to most Jim Carrey films. I cannot abide his mainstream films like Liar, Liar or the distracting hyperactivity he brought to Horton Hears a Who, but I think he really shines in roles that are as far out there as possible. Think Hank in the Farrelly Brothers' Me, Myself & Irene.

His latest, I Love You Phillip Morris is very outre indeed, and all the better for it. It's gaygaygay, as Carrey's true-life character Steven Russell might say, but it's other things as well. It is at its core a love story, and despite the external trappings, has enough universal elements that it's both disappointing and puzzling that the film has struggled to be released (although much of it has to do with the business side of the film's distribution). The long and short of it is that it is not playing in many theaters, and that's unlikely to change, especially given how crowded with product theaters are this time of year. I can't help thinking they should have waited and released it for Valentine's Day weekend.

Steven Russell's living the con of a Christian straight life in Virginia Beach (a cop, just like Hank's meek other, Charlie), then as a produce seller in Texas, but chucks it all to come out and live high off the hog in Miami, the problem being how expensive a proposition that is. Soon, he's living the life of a financial con man, and then one as an incarcerated felon.

They "meet cute" in the prison library -- Steven and the wispy Phillip Morris (a blondblondblond Ewan McGregor). Soon they are swooning in smuggled correspondence, and when Steven hustles a cell transfer, the lovebirds slow dance to Johnny Mathis while the Texas Penal System burns around them.

The sexuality is frank -- Phillip blows Steven the minute he enters his cell -- but no more so than in other films (see Love & Other Drugs in current release -- or better yet, save your money and wait until it's on cable. Or better still, don't see it at all.). Mostly there is lots of kissing and eyes-locked romance -- this is love, not a hookup.

When they get out of prison, Steven cons his way into a job as a CFO (don't let those reference calls stand in your way) and finds a genius way to make his company some extra money, but keep a "finder's fee" to keep Phillip in style. And I wouldn't dream of revealing his final con, which stands "acceptably gay" films like Philadelphia on their ear. (Not that I take issue with Philadelphia as a film, just the idea that gay = tragic that has been used in mainstream films.)

I Love You, Phillip Morris provides one of the year's most indelible screen images: Jim Carrey in red leather hotpants, fishnet stockings & heels, proudly strutting down a prison corridor, escaping both prison and convention. Long may he strut.