I Love You Phillip Morris

Dark comedy is true account concerning con artist Steven Jay Russell who met the love of his life behind bars.  Bizarre feature is alternatingly funny and touching at different times and the weird shifts in tone are frustratingly uneven.  One moment the movie attempts to be a poignant love story, the next it’s a vulgar farce making exaggerated jokes about the relationship.  Witty satire that sends up the stereotypical expectations of a perfect life and Steven’s uncanny ability to break out of prison over and over, are fascinating details only fleetingly touched upon.  Jim Carey, in a seriously mannered performance, always appears to be on the verge of bursting out laughing and yelling “gotcha”.  He manages to keep it together, but he looks uncomfortable.  His physically gaunt appearance throughout the entire film is off-putting too.  In the end, the discordant script wants to both be hilariously raunchy comedy and touchingly emotional drama and eventually doesn’t succeed on either level.