I love you Phillip Morris - DVD

Movie: With "I love you Phillip Morris" one of the most absurd comedies of recent times is released on DVD, which can score especially with one aspect: the unusual, courageous and absurdly funny performance of Jim Carrey.

Carrey plays in the film, inspired by incredible but true events, the rather staid businessman Steven Russell, who after a car accident suddenly one thing is quite clear: he is gay! Without further ado, he leaves his secure life with wife and children to live out his newfound homosexuality in Miami. Sex, parties, expensive restaurants - all this costs a lot of money and Steven has to come up with a lot of ideas to get the necessary funds - admittedly not always in a legal way. And although Steven proves to be an extremely clever con man, he ends up in prison one day. There he meets Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor) and falls in love. But in order to never again be separated from the love of his life, Steven must be even more brazen and creative than he has been in his previous con jobs...

The real Steve Russell, still serving time in prison for a whopping 114 years, has told author Steve McVicker his entertaining life story. Admittedly, the credibility of some of the details should be taken with a grain of salt, but by and large, all of the events that screenwriters and directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra recount in their film actually happened. Even if they have been slightly altered for dramaturgical purposes, all that the viewer gets to see here is reality. Further proof that life writes the most absurd and exciting stories.

The film presents the unusual love story as a mixture of drama and comedy, whereby the sometimes quite drastic humor may not be everyone's cup of tea. Especially with Steven's homosexuality is dealt here, rather unusual for an American production, very openly, although the humor here is not directed against gays, but rather against the prudishness in American society. But that is only a small part of the film. For primarily it is not about homosexuality, but about a rather universal love and the indomitable will to do simply everything for the one great love - whatever the cost...

Jim Carrey fortunately cuts back on his typical and so popular grimaces, but still remains Jim Carrey all the time, which makes it a bit difficult for the viewer to take away his great love for Ewan McGregor, who is a bit more convincing in this respect. What is noticeable about Carrey, though, is his dedication to the project. Most other stars of Carrey's caliber certainly wouldn't have the guts to perform such drastic sex scenes with another man. Carrey, however, puts his heart into every moment, and that's what makes his performance so worth watching.

With a production that does absolute justice to the absurdity of its story, "I love you Phillip Morris" does thoroughly elude the tastes of the masses. But that doesn't make this wonderfully comically whimsical mix of conman comedy and love story any less worth watching. For lovers of more offbeat fare beyond the mainstream, it is therefore definitely worthwhile to insert the DVD of "I love you Phillip Morris".

Picture + Sound: Rich colors and a pleasant overall sharpness give the image quality the deserved overall grade "Good"! The sound remains restrained over long stretches and has only here and there a little dynamics to offer. Overall, however, the action is dominated by the dialogue and soundtrack. For a film of this genre absolutely satisfactory!

Extras: Nearly an hour of bonus material has to offer the disc. It starts with a with just under 11 minutes unfortunately much too short, but not uninteresting Making of, followed by interviews with Jim Carrey (about 5 min.), Ewan McGregor (about 8 min., this interview also falls out due to McGregor's fight against too loud carbonic acid in his water glass a little longer) and the two directors (about 5 min.). The longest extra is a press conference from France, attended by the two leads and the directors, as well as celebrity producer Luc Besson. Even if most of the questions are directed at Jim Carrey and especially Ewan McGregor therefore seems a bit bored, the half-hour press conference offers a lot of entertainment value and information content. In addition, the DVD still offers a few trailers of the provider.

Conclusion: "I love you Phillip Morris" is a whimsical love story that pleases with great leading actors and absurd humor. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but undoubtedly a convincing performance by actors and makers. The DVD can convince technically and also offers worth seeing bonus material, whereby especially the French press conference entertains. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp