I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS

Written and Directed by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra

Starring Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor and Leslie Mann

Phillip Morris: Enough romance. Let's Fuck.

I suppose it is fitting that a movie about a man who never quite grasps who he truly is should suffer from the same issues. I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS is a rather ridiculous account of the life of Steven Jay Russell, an American con man with an uncanny ability to break out of prisons. On one of his fateful visits to the big house, he met the love of his life, Phillip Morris, and proceeded to break them both out of prison so that they could live happily ever after. His story has it all, from dangerous escapes to fraudulent scams to even gay prison sex but yet somehow, in the hands of writing/directing team, John Requa and Glenn Ficarra (CATS & DOGS), his life amounts to nothing more than a big old boring mess.

Russell was adopted as a baby. He grew up to become a police officer in a small town. He married and had children. He felt abandoned but aside from that gaping hole in his heart, he was content. He was at least until one day, when he got into an automobile accident and decided he had enough of living a lie. It was time for Russell to live as an out and proud homosexual. He divorced, moved to Miami and got himself a cute, younger boyfriend and, if you are to believe the incredibly tacky clichéd picture the directors paint, he also got too matching miniature dogs to parade up and down the street with said younger, cuter boyfriend. There was just one tiny problem; being gay is expensive and Russell had no skills that could afford him the lavish lifestyle he and his boy toy had grown accustomed to.

This is when Russell turned to insurance fraud. It is also the point where the film starts to get thoroughly lost. Russell is played by Jim Carrey, who is the first person who comes to my mind when I picture believable gay men strutting down Miami Beach in white cargos and a T-shirt that is two sizes too small. I guess the costume people wanted to make sure there was no confusion over his sexuality, just in case it wasn’t coming through in the performance. I personally think Carrey doesn’t get the credit he deserves for some of his dramatic turns but the trouble here is he can’t seem to decide whether this particular turn is meant to be dramatic or comedic. I’m sure he had no assistance from his directors mind you. There are some genuine attempts at touching moments in the film and Carrey handles them as well as he can but then the next scene will rely solely on Carrey’s humorous side, only without the actual humour.

And what of Phillip Morris? I mean, he is in the title and all. Phillip Morris is another minor offender doing time, played by Ewan McGregor, who is as swishy as he can be with his pretty blue eyes and horrifically dyed strawberry blond hair. The twosome meet in a library one day and it is love at first sight. Well, they stare longingly into each other’s eyes for no reason other than the fact that they are gay and standing next to each other so naturally I assume this is the great love it is meant to be. Once together, I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS doesn’t seem to know what to do with them or itself. Is it a comedy or a serious romance? Is this really the treatment of someone’s life story? Because if it is, it plays as though it were completely made up or implausible. More importantly, is the intended audience meant to be gay or straight? It shouldn’t matter but there are moments when it isn’t clear whether the filmmakers are laughing with or at their heroes. To that extent though, I guess it doesn’t matter who the audience is meant to be as I don’t see there being much of an audience for this film at all.

Awards Watch: GLBT Films of 2010 Honored

The annual Hollywood awards season is in full swing, with the Golden Globes recently announced and the Academy Awards coming up on February 27. The Social Network and The King's Speech may be the big winners thus far, but the Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA) had some surprises among the winners of its second annual Dorian Awards, which were announced today.

GALECA is only two years old but is quickly becoming known in the industry. The organization is composed of more than 40 LGBT film and television critics from across the US as well as Canada and Great Britain. Such major publications as The Advocate, US Weekly, TV Guide and our own Movie Dearest are represented. Unlike GLAAD, which specifically honors movie and TV shows each year that show the GLBT community in a positive light, GALECA considers both mainstream and LGBT-specific projects for the Dorian Awards. Toy Story 3 and The Social Network were among GALECA's five nominees for Film of the Year in addition to the more LGBT-oriented The Kids Are All Right, Black Swan and I Am Love. The Dorian Awards are so named in honor of gay writer Oscar Wilde and his literary masterpiece, The Picture of Dorian Grey.

I Am Love was the surprise choice as the 2010 Dorian Award-winner for Film of the Year. This sensual tale stars Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton as the Russian-born matriarch of an Italian family beset by romantic entanglements of various genders and orientations. Little seen upon its theatrical release but much admired by those who have caught it, I Am Love is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.

Unlike most groups that bestow awards, GALECA doesn't separate men and women in its consideration of the Best Performances in Film and Television. This year, Annette Bening triumphed over such acclaimed fellow nominees as Colin Firth (The King's Speech), James Franco (who was nominated for his great acting in two 2010 releases, 127 Hours and Howl) and Natalie Portman (Black Swan). Bening won the Dorian Award for her excellent turn as one-half of a lesbian couple raising two teenagers in The Kids Are All Right.

In GALECA's television categories, The Good Wife won Drama of the Year while Glee won its second Dorian Award in a row for TV Comedy or Musical of the Year. Glee also won the Dorian for LGBT-themed TV Show of the Year as well as acting awards for Jane Lynch and Chris Colfer, who tied in the TV Comedy Performance of the Year category. New Glee cast member Darren Criss won GALECA's "We're Wilde About You" Rising Star Award over such other talented newcomers as Andrew Garfield (The Social Network and the upcoming Spider-Man reboot) and Black Swan's Mila Kunis. Michael C. Hall, as the sympathetic serial killer of Dexter, won the Dorian Award for TV Dramatic Performance of the Year. The HBO series Hung, about a well-endowed gigolo, was recognized as the Unsung TV Show of the Year and the new comedy Hot in Cleveland, starring Valerie Bertinelli and Betty White, won the "Campy (Intentional or Not) TV Show of the Year" Dorian.

The delightful Easy A, about a high school student who takes her Scarlet Letter reading assignment a bit too literally, won the Dorian Award for Unsung Film of the Year. Additional winners in other film-related categories were Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (Documentary of the Year); I Love You Phillip Morris (LGBT-Themed Film of the Year); 8: The Mormon Proposition (LGBT-Themed Documentary of the Year); and Burlesque (Campy (Intentional or Not) Film of the Year). The latter beat out such dubious contenders as Sex and the City 2 and Piranha 3-D.

Finally, GALECA's prestigious "Wilde Wit of the Year Award" was given to Rachel Maddow, the openly lesbian TV and radio news host, and the group's annual "Timeless Award" — which is given to a living actor or performer with an exemplary career marked by smarts, character and wit — was bestowed upon theatre and film legend Angela Lansbury.

While this year's Academy Award nominations have yet to be announced, a number of LGBT-interest contenders are likely. Annette Bening and Natalie Portman will likely duke it out for the Best Actress Oscar, and Bening's Kids Are All Right partner, Julianne Moore, could also be nominated. Meanwhile, the Academy Award for Best Song might well go to "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," which was sung by Cher in Burlesque and won the Golden Globe. If the song is nominated for an Oscar, Cher will likely perform it during the telecast. Her appearance alone will be enough to get virtually every gay man in the US to tune in on February 27!

See the comments section below for a quick look at this year's Dorian Award winners.

By Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Awards Watch: Nominations for the 2010 Dorian Awards

The Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (of which yours truly and my fellow Movie Dearest Men on Film Chris Carpenter and Neil Cohen are members) has announced its nominations for the group's second annual Dorian Awards, celebrating the best in film and television for 2010.

In 17 categories, including new ones this year for documentaries and "unsung" movies, GALECA has nominated a wide variety of films and TV programs, both with and without GLBT themes. Titles with multiple nominations include such big screen hits as Black Swan, The Kids Are All Right and The Social Network, while The Big Bang Theory, Glee and Modern Family represent the small screen.

See the comments section below for the complete list of nominations. Winners will be announced January 18 in Los Angeles.

Dearie Awards 2010: Movie of the Year - I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS

This was a tough choice to make at the end of a great year for GLBT-themed films, both domestic and foreign. We decided on I Love You Phillip Morris as our top pick, though, not only for its sharp, alternately hilarious and touching screenplay (which was just announced as a surprise nominee for this year's Writers Guild Awards) but for the sheer fact that it was finally released in the US after a tortured, nearly two year wait.

I Love You Phillip Morris, which starred Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor (both delightful) in the true-life story of misguided convicts in love with each other, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2009, then opened in virtually every European country, but saw its American opening held up by marketing concerns and financial squabbles. It finally played a number of US theaters just last month, to mixed critical and box office success. Nevertheless, everyone — gay, straight and in between — ought to see this bizarre yet oddly universal, resonant love story. We love Phillip Morris too!

Honorable Mentions:
A leading contender in this year's Oscars, The Kids Are All Right was also nominated by the WGA, as well as for a host of Golden Globe and other awards. This topical tale of a lesbian couple (the fabulous Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) coping with their rapidly maturing children's desire to develop a relationship with their sperm-donor father (a similarly great Mark Ruffalo) struck a chord among parents of all stripes. Though it received mixed reactions in the GLBT community, the general acclaim heaped upon The Kids Are All Right serves as a testament to how far we have come as film viewers and filmmakers, and the movie is probably the most significant mainstream achievement in that regard since 2005's Brokeback Mountain.

Burlesque won't go down as a cinematic classic, but this contemporary homage to A Star is Born melodramas had enough musical pizzazz and camp charm to win over gay audiences. Add Cher (in her first film role in seven years) to the time-honored mix and we had, if not a blockbuster, a Xanadu-esque pop pageant that will likely stand the test of time. As Cher prophetically sings on the soundtrack, "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me." Christina Aguilera didn't suck, Cam Gigandet showed his shapely derriere, Stanley Tucci played gay (again) and Kristen Bell amused as the alcoholic diva. Oh, and out actor Alan Cumming appeared sporadically in a variation on his Cabaret MC role. What's not to like?

Click the following links for our original reviews: I Love You Phillip Morris, The Kids Are All Right and Burlesque.

UPDATE: I Love You Phillip Morris is now available on DVD and Blu-ray from Amazon.com.

By Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reel Thoughts: The 2011 Neelys!

2010 has yielded a bumper crop of amazing performances, such as Natalie Portman’s crazed dancer in Black Swan, Christian Bale’s quivering crackhead in The Fighter, Julianne Moore and Annette Bening’s utterly normal but lovably crazy moms in The Kids Are All Right and breakout turns by youthful Chloe Grace Moretz in Kick-Ass and Let Me In and Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit. The films themselves, by and large, may not have cracked the top ten in other years. For that reason, any "Best of" lists you’re likely to read are completely valid but totally subjective. Except for the Neelys, which truly do recognize the best and worst Hollywood had to offer, named for the unfortunately boozy, pill-popping starlet played by Patty Duke in Valley of the Dolls.

10. I Love You Phillip Morris: This wildly offensive and hilarious love story between a sociopath and his Southern prison squeeze gave Jim Carrey and Ewan MacGregor free reign to have a ball. It would have ranked higher, but the flippant tone robbed the men’s relationship of real chemistry, and MacGregor’s phony accent grates.

9. The Town: Testosterone alert! Maybe Good Will Hunting wasn’t a fluke. Director Ben Affleck crafted a smart, exciting heist movie where his beloved Charlestown, Boston is a starring character itself. Affleck, Jon Hamm and especially Jeremy Renner give powerful, rough-edged and ridiculously sexy performances. Plus, those wrinkly nun masks are super creepy!

8. Winter’s Bone: Jennifer Lawrence bursts onto the scene in a tough, unsentimental performance as a girl who goes on a grueling quest to find her no-good father and save her family before they lose their home. Director Debra Granik creates a world of lawlessness, poverty and violence so real, you need a shower after watching it.

7. Please Give: Nicole Holofcener’s latest tale of upper class social guilt is smart, funny and features a priceless performance by Catherine Keener. She plays a mid-century modern furniture dealer who gets her best stuff by raiding estate sales of unsuspecting next-of-kin. Look for The Dick Van Dyke Show’s Millie Helper, Ann Guilbert, as Keener’s ancient and cranky neighbor.

6. The King’s Speech: A veddy British drama about King George VI (Colin Firth), Queen Elizabeth’s father, and his debilitating struggle with stuttering. Geoffrey Rush plays the speech therapist that saved the King, and Helena Bonham Carter gives a richly funny performance as the Queen Mum. Firth will surely earn the Oscar he was denied last year.

5. Toy Story 3: The third time is a charm indeed, as reality intrudes on the sunny lives of Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the gang. Andy is off to college, and he intended to store his toys in the attic, but a mix-up sends them to a hellish prison disguised as a daycare center. The filmmakers explore every human emotion possible in the form of lovable playthings, and Barbie’s Ken nearly pirouettes out of the closet; being Disney, it’s only implied, but come on... he wears an ascot!

4. The Social Network: David Fincher creates an endlessly fascinating film that Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg probably doesn’t “Like”. Jesse Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg as an anti-social narcissist who created Facebook after being dumped by his girlfriend.

3. Black Swan: The wildest mind trip of the year, Darren Aronofsky’s ballet thriller is part Roman Polanski meltdown, part Showgirls-style sex and seduction. Natalie Portman plays the role of her life as a mentally fragile ballerina who cracks under the pressure of playing the two-sided Swan Queen in Swan Lake. Mila Kunis sizzles as Portman’s rival who may or may not want to be her lover.

2. The Kids Are All Right: A backlash has developed against Lisa Cholodenko’s unconventional family dramedy, but I still find it fresh, funny and full of wise and witty performances. Julianne Moore glows as earthy Jules, and Annette Bening sparkles as her brittle doctor wife who has to face the ugly truth of infidelity. Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Josh Hutcherson shine as the titular kids who find more than they bargained for when they locate their sperm donor dad (sexy Mark Ruffalo). Is it a slap in audiences’ faces that Moore fools around with Ruffalo? Not if she was just responding to his attention and passion to reawaken her own dormant sexuality. She’s still gay and the two women still love each other, but Cholodenko doesn’t really care if people are offended. It’s the film she wanted to make, based on elements she and co-writer Stuart Blumberg actually lived through.

And the 2011 Neely goes to…

1. True Grit: Did the old John Wayne/Kim Darby western really need a remake? With the Coen Brothers at the helm, the answer is a resounding yes. Jeff Bridges is a marvel as drunken, trigger-happy Rooster Cogburn and Hailee Steinfeld is amazingly self-assured as Mattie Ross, a stubborn fourteen year old in the wildest of Wild Wests. Matt Damon is a hilarious foil to Bridges, and the Coens create a vivid old-time world through spot-on dialogue, gorgeous production values and inventive performances.

Of course, I always hear that my Worst Ten List is the readers’ favorite part, so here are the misfires, monstrosities and hot messes of the year:

10. The Tourist: A film that makes Johnny Depp boring and Angelina Jolie frivolous is quite a sad accomplishment. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck lavishes attention on Jolie’s gorgeous clothes, but lets Depp flail listlessly as the most improbable math teacher in the history of film.

9. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: Why do white people playing Persians all speak with British accents? Jake Gyllenhaal sports a Billy Ray Cyrus wig, but his manly physique is the only saving grace in this noisy, pompous, overblown melodrama. I sure hope the video game this is based on is more entertaining.

8. Clash of the Titans: Hunky but vacant Sam Worthington makes Harry Hamlin look like Olivier, and Liam Neeson seems visibly pained to shout “Release the Kraken!” in this misguided fantasy film only made worse by the addition of cheesy 3-D. Poor Gemma Atherton makes her second appearance on the list after her embarrassing Prince of Persia performance, proving that a Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts education doesn’t give you taste in projects.

7. Dinner for Schmucks: As funny as a plate of dog poop, this unnecessary remake of a French film squandered the talents of Paul Rudd and Steve Carell in the least funny comedy of the year. Carell’s stuffed mice dioramas had more life and energy.

6. The Last Airbender: The Lousy Airblunder is a better name for M. Night Shamalyan’s latest pretentious mess. Dev Patel squanders his Slumdog Millionaire good will glowering through his role of a disgraced prince, while a trio of forgettable child actors pretends to control the four elements. Nothing will control your boredom.

5. The Bounty Hunter: Gerard Butler is the anti-Hugh Jackman, choosing role after role in cinematic stink bombs, and this sour romantic comedy is no exception. Jennifer Aniston tries to charm, but the story is so full of nasty violence and misogynist characters, you won’t get the bad taste out of your mouth for weeks.

4. Splice: A nasty hybrid escaped earlier this year that was cobbled together from the damaged DNA of a dozen better movies. No, I am not talking about “nerd-spelled-backwards” Dren, the monster at the center of the hoot-worthy Splice. The film itself was a sickly retread of many superior films that took the intriguing idea of genetic experimentation and turned it into a cringe-inducing freak show. Sarah Polley and Adrian Brody definitely need new agents.

3. Furry Vengeance: A bloated Brendan Fraser squares off with a bunch of pissed-off woodland creatures in a horrifying comedy that could have been crafted by Sarah Palin and the NRA. The animals are repulsive, the humans are more repulsive and the whole film feels like it was made for pocket change. The whole thing reminds me of a 1973 issue of "House of Mystery" where the forest creatures drowned a little boy to teach man a lesson about respecting the environment. Watching Furry Vengeance made me wish I were that toddler.

2. Eat Pray Love: 2010 was a year filled with natural disasters, but Glee creator Ryan Murphy’s excruciating version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir was a pompous, self-congratulatory, insufferably cutesy disaster to rival them all. Not even Julia Roberts, Richard Jenkins and Javier Bardem could elevate this chick flick fiasco.

1. Standing Ovation: Billed as “Junior High School Musical”, this misshapen maelstrom of horrible acting, miserable musical numbers and idiotic writing could single-handedly end funding for the arts in our schools. With dialogue like “I’m Alanna Wannabe, and I’m gonna be!” and a band of mean girls named “The Wiggies”, it’s like From Justin to Kelly, without the charm. So painful, it’s considered a human rights violation in thirty-seven countries.

And the coveted Elizabeth Berkley Award for unfortunate acting goes for the first time to an unknown, who will, we can pray, remain that way. From the truly wretched Standing Ovation, the hilarious low point was, hands-down, little Alanna Palombo. With a foghorn voice and an Elmer Fudd accent, this pint-sized moppet overacts so horrifically, you will swear she’s in 3-D. Those arguing whether Black Swan or Burlesque is the new Showgirls should aim a little lower. Shrill Palombo and her talent-deprived tweens make Standing Ovation the cult classic of the year.

By Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Reverend's Year in Review: 2010

Many critics, myself included, tend to moan and groan at the end of each year about the poor quality of films released theatrically during the previous twelve months. In my estimation, though, 2010 was a year of unusually high quality among both GLBT-oriented movies (notably The Kids Are All Right and I Love You Phillip Morris) and mainstream. In reviewing my film log and the academic scale I use, I rated more releases an "A" or "A-" in 2010 than I have in many years.

Here then are, in my opinion, the best of the best of 2010:

1. The Social Network (Sony): Engrossing account of the ethical and relational struggles behind the founding of Facebook, which has become the most popular social networking website of our time with over half a billion users, including more than a few GLBT folks. Such success is ironic given that the film reveals the founders' inability to sustain significant relationships, at least at the time. Masterfully directed by David Fincher, brilliantly written by Aaron Sorkin, and impressively acted by Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake and hot newcomer Andrew Garfield (soon to be seen as Spider-Man in the movie re-boot), among others. A rare, essentially perfect film.

2. Winter's Bone (Roadside Attractions): A bleak but ultimately rewarding drama set in the Ozarks. A 17-year old girl must locate her deadbeat father or else she, her younger siblings and disabled mother will lose their home. Jennifer Lawrence makes a stunning debut in the lead role, and director Debra Granik does a great job finding the humanity in whom viewers might deem some pretty brutal, low-life characters. A great saga of female empowerment, both on and behind the screen.

3. Inception (Warner Bros): One of those unique summer event movies that actually lives up to the hype and makes film lovers say "Wow!" Virtuoso Christopher Nolan followed up his mega-successful Batman sequel The Dark Knight with a bracingly original action-adventure about a team of dream thieves led by Leonardo DiCaprio that engages one's intellect as well as the eye. Does it all make sense? It's hard to say, but I expect repeat viewings will prove rewarding. Gay viewers were especially taken by British actor Tom Hardy, who charms in the film and has publicly admitted having sexual experiences with men in the past. He can steal my dreams any time!

4. Mother (Magnolia Pictures): We all have our mother issues but, as this Hitchcockian suspense-comedy proves, even the most dysfunctional moms can come in handy in a pinch. When a simple-minded man is accused of murder, his overly-possessive mother (she insists her grown son sleep with her, albeit chastely) sets out to find the true killer. The latest from the enormously talented South Korean writer-director Bong Joon-ho, who last made the tongue-in-cheek monster movie The Host. Kim Hye-ja is great in the title role, and is being honored as Best Actress of 2010 by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for her work in this.

5. Shutter Island (Paramount): The second-best mind f**k of a movie released in 2010 after Inception, and featuring another great turn by Leonardo DiCaprio. An excellent, appropriately creepy adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel about mysterious goings-on at an isolated mental asylum during the 1950's and the psychologically fragile G-Man sent to investigate. Hottie Mark Ruffalo, who also turned in a memorable performance this year in The Kids Are All Right, plays DiCaprio's devoted partner. Directed by Oscar-winner Martin Scorsese with more twists and turns than the wildest roller coaster.

6. Eyes Wide Open (New American Vision): A remarkable Israeli film about the unexpected, intense love affair that develops between two Orthodox Jewish men. Dubbed "Brokeback Talmud" by one wag, it gains extra credit for being respectful in its unavoidably controversial treatment of the Orthodox characters and community. That the film's excellent lead actors don't boast movie-star good looks adds to its credibility. It received a brief theatrical release in Los Angeles and New York but deserves to be seen widely and is now available on home video.

7. The King's Speech (Weinstein Co.): I predict Colin Firth will win this year's Best Actor Academy Award (after losing last year despite his superior performance in the gay-themed A Single Man) for his remarkable, touching work here as Britain's King George VI, who reigned during World War II and won his people's admiration despite a debilitating stammer. The movie is really an insightful exploration of leadership and what effective leadership requires, both in terms of skills and costs. Geoffrey Rush provides great support as a speech therapist whose unusual methods become the source of George's salvation, and Helena Bonham Carter is wonderful as she who would become the Queen Mother.

8. Micmacs (Sony Classics): A delightfully inventive anti-war satire by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, stylish director of such previously acclaimed films as Amélie and A Very Long Engagement. Visually marvelous and funny, it was truly one of the summer's and year's most truly entertaining movies despite being foreign and subtitled, which likely turned many viewers who would otherwise dig it away. Track it down once it's on DVD and watch it; you'll be glad you did.

9. Rabbit Hole (Lionsgate): Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by David Lindsay-Abaire, who also wrote the screenplay, the story follows a married couple (Nicole Kidman and the always welcome Aaron Eckhart) who are grieving the sudden death of their 4-year old son eight months prior. The film is moving and achingly authentic while also unexpectedly funny, and is helmed with great sensitivity by actor-writer-director John Cameron Mitchell of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus infamy. Kidman is a likely Oscar candidate for her powerful performance, and Eckhart could also find himself nominated.

10. Easy A (Sony/Screen Gems): I had several contenders for the final slot in my top ten (see honorable mentions below), but I chose this for its extremely intelligent, unusually literate screenplay by Bert V. Royal... and in a comedy primarily intended for teens! Emma Stone is smashing as a high school student who embraces "The Scarlet Letter" as much more than just assigned reading. Dan Byrd of TV's Cougar Town plays a gay fellow student who develops a Mark Twain-related "fetish" by film's end. The supporting cast also includes gay faves Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson and Lisa Kudrow.

In what was another very good year for the fairly recently re-discovered genre of documentaries, I would like to confer "Honorable Mention" status on a handful of great docs that dealt with GLBT-related subjects: The Other City, about AIDS in Washington DC, which has the highest rate of infection among US cities; Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work; and Stonewall Uprising. Other Honorable Mentions go to I Love You Phillip Morris which, though excellent, deserves it for no other reason than finally getting released in the US after a torturous two-year delay; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, with its bisexual avenging angel Lisbeth Salander personified by the awesome Noomi Rapace; and, in a great year for animated films, Disney's wonderful Tangled and Toy Story 3.

Of course, in every bed of roses one finds a few thorns. The five worst movies I endured in 2010 were The Expendables, the dreadful, hyper-violent reunion of 1980's action stars; After.Life, a bizarre horror flick that wastes the usually dependable Christina Ricci and Liam Neeson; The Magician, which follows the exploits of an Australian hit man through his possibly gay videographer/admirer; Please Give, a widely acclaimed dramedy that I found insufferably pretentious despite its great cast; and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, which is so incredibly dull and formulaic for a summer action-adventure that not even yummy, shirtless Jake Gyllenhaal could give it life.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend's Reviews: I Love Phillip Morris, Too

There is no shortage of penises in the delightful, gay-centric comedy I Love You Phillip Morris. While the movie doesn’t feature full-frontal male nudity, it does boast anatomically-correct fruit arrangements, cloud formations and pencil drawings. It also spotlights big-name actors Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor as real-life gay lovers.

The long-awaited film is finally opening in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York today (with an expanded release next week), nearly two years after it made its US premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and after playing virtually every other country in the world. Depending on who you talk to, the American release was delayed due to overwrought marketing concerns over the movie’s gay-themed storyline, content and/or legal disputes between its various financiers.

One might incorrectly deduce from the movie’s title that it is a cinematic homage to the patron saint of cigarette smokers. Instead, it weaves the too-bizarre-to-be-believed but true tale of Steven Russell (played by Carrey), a formerly heterosexual, married, fundamentalist-Christian policeman who became an openly gay, reformation-proof con man in the wake of a near-death experience. During the first of what would be several prison terms, Russell fell in love with a fellow inmate by the name of Phillip Morris (McGregor).

Russell becomes intent on freeing himself and Morris so they can live happily ever after together. He studies law while in prison and, following his own release, passes himself off as an attorney. Once Russell gets Morris out, the pair enjoys an extravagant lifestyle funded by money Russell is siphoning from the company at which he is employed (incredibly) as Chief Financial Officer.

This sets off a continuous pattern for Russell of getting caught and re-sentenced to prison only to escape through an ingeniously engineered plan in an effort to reunite with Morris. Realizing how boundless Russell’s deceit can be, Morris avoids him… until, that is, Russell employs the ultimate tactic to win his beloved back.

The tone of I Love You Phillip Morris is unexpectedly sunny given the prison setting and its lead character’s general lack of morals. It is also frequently hilarious, none more so than when Morris gushes “That is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me!” to Russell shortly after learning his paramour arranged the brutal beating of another inmate who was grating on Morris’s nerves. There is also a very funny scene involving a neighboring prisoner whom Russell secures to “serenade” him and Morris during a romantic evening together, cellblock rules be damned.

Carrey and McGregor give wonderful, no-holds-barred performances. Interestingly, Carrey is at his most sincere here playing a thoroughly insincere person. They also get great support from Leslie Mann (Knocked Up) as Russell’s compassionate wife and Rodrigo Santoro (who played the buff, nearly naked Xerxes in 300) as his pre-incarceration partner who, sadly, died of AIDS.

McGregor, no stranger to gay/bisexual roles, has said of his work on I Love You Phillip Morris: “I like it because it’s a gay film, which is to say it’s a film about two men in love, and I think that’s an important element of it. I also got to French kiss Jim Carrey a lot, and I quite like that too.” McGregor has been quite outspoken — admirably so — in defense of the movie’s more graphic sexual content, most of which has been edited out of the final cut.

I Love You Phillip Morris marks the successful directorial debut of screenwriters Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who previously wrote Bad Santa and the 2005 remake of The Bad News Bears. While their latest, which is based on a book about Russell by Texas journalist Steven McVicker, includes the cynical, sometimes shocking bluntness that characterizes their earlier films, it is a pleasant surprise to discover how good-natured and genuinely romantic this movie is. That both Ficarra and Requa are heterosexual men makes their fearlessness at delving into a star-crossed gay relationship all the more impressive, although Requa did joke in a Los Angeles Times interview that “(Ficarra and I) spend so much time together that in many ways we have a very successful same-sex relationship.”

Some mainstream moviegoers will likely find the film’s plot, sex scenes and unapologetically gay sensibility off-putting. However, French audiences and Culture Minister Frédéric Mitterrand were so impressed by Carrey’s and McGregor’s chemistry in I Love You Phillip Morris that the actors were named knights in France’s prestigious National Order of Arts and Letters in February of this year.

Click here to check out the film’s NSFW red band trailer.

UPDATE: I Love You Phillip Morris is now available on DVD and Blu-ray from Amazon.com.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.