Perhaps it's because Jim Carrey's most adventurous performances ( The Truman Show, Man in the Moon) have been underappreciated that he resorts to performing in custom-built shtick ( Yes Man, Fun with Dick and Jane).
No surprise, then, that his return to audacious material in I Love You, Phillip Morrishas stirred up media interest at the Sundance Film Festival, where it had its world premiere this week.
Written and directed by Glenn Ficarra and Jon Requa, who scripted the provocative Bad Santa, the factually based story is a dark comedy starring Carrey as Steve McVicker, a habitual fraudster living a lie. He masquerades as a lawyer for criminal purposes, marries a woman (Leslie Mann) and has two children with her, even though he’s gay.
When McVicker is jailed, he inveigles his way into sharing a cell with an inmate named Philip Morris (played by a blond Ewan McGregor), and they fall head over heels for each other. One Sundance review warned that “all the references to oral sex” and “the clingy physicality of Steven and Phillip” will give “some fans of Ace Ventura heart attacks”.
I Love You Phillip Morrisopens here at the end of June.
