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I Love You Phillip Morris
Steven Russell leads a seemingly average life – an organ player in the local church, happily married to Debbie, and a member of the local police force. That is until he has a severe car accident that leads him to the ultimate epiphany: he’s gay and he’s going to live life to the fullest – even if he has to break the law to do it. Taking on an extravagant lifestyle, Steven turns to cons and fraud to make ends meet and is eventually sent to the State Penitentiary where he meets the love of his life, a sensitive, soft-spoken man named Phillip Morris. His devotion to freeing Phillip from jail and building the perfect life together prompts him to attempt (and often succeed at) one impossible con after another.
2010 · Directed by John Requa · 98 min · Comedy · Crime · Drama · Romance · Screenplay in the scene database · 20 frames
Tagline
The Conman who wouldn't go straight.
Plot
Steven Jay Russell is on his deathbed, recalling the events of his life that led him to this point. He spent his early adult years in Virginia Beach as a police officer. He plays the organ at church, has unenthusiastic sex with his wife, Debbie, and spends his off-hours searching for his biological mother, who had placed him for adoption as a child. Steven locates his biological mother, but she rejects him. He then quits the police force and moves to Texas and works for Sysco, the family business.
After a car crash on the way from a homosexual tryst, Steven leaves his family and life behind, though he keeps in touch with his wife and young daughter, and explores the world as his true self – a gay man. He moves to Miami, where he finds a boyfriend, Jimmy, and they adopt a luxurious lifestyle. To keep themselves in the style to which they have become accustomed, Steven becomes a con man. He is pursued by the police, and, after jumping off a parking garage, is sent to prison, where he falls in love with inmate Phillip Morris.
Steven cannot bear to be separated from Phillip. After being released, he helps get Phillip freed from prison by posing as a lawyer, then attains wealth by fraudulently acquiring a position as Chief Financial Officer of a large medical management company called USAMM (United States of America Medical Management).
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Written by: John Requa, Glenn Ficarra
- Cinematography: Xavier Grobet
- Edited by: Thomas J. Nordberg
- Music: Nick Urata
- Production design: Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski
- Produced by: Andrew Lazar, Far Shariat
Cast
- Jim Carrey as Steven Russell
- Ewan McGregor as Phillip Morris
- Leslie Mann as Debbie
- Rodrigo Santoro as Jimmy
- Antoni Corone as Lindholm
- Brennan Brown as Larry Bukheim
- Michael Mandell as Cleavon
- Annie Golden as Eudora
- Marylouise Burke as Barbara Bascombe
- David Jensen as Judge
Production
- Country: France, United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: EuropaCorp, Mad Chance, Roadside Attractions, LD Entertainment
- Budget: $13,000,000
- Box office: $20,768,906
- Themes: small town, miami, florida, judge, con man, fraud, insurance fraud, car crash, jail, lgbt, white collar criminal
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