I Love You Phillip Morris Review (2009) – A wonderful, quirky, colorful and incredibly entertaining love story that is actually based on real people and true events!

Honoring inclusivity and Pride this month with an all-time favorite of ours, I love you Phillip Morris! We love this film for a multitude of reasons, not the least bit being that we love seeing different stories about all kinds of people! The world is not a cookie cutter, as much as some may want it to be, and how hard they have tried to force the world to be.

We are all so wonderfully different and our differences are something to be honored, respected, celebrated, and loved! We potatoes love representation and we especially love it when it is as well done and amazing as this film!

This is one of Jim Carrey’s best films in our opinion. Ewan McGregor also brings his A game in this movie. The writing is beautiful and their love is so believable, it is palpable. We here can be very cheesy as well as smashed and we LOVE, love. We support all love, and individuality!

Some trigger warnings: this movie can be a bit explicit at times although it is not excessively so. Suicide, conning, lying, manipulation and some violence can also be found within this film. Just a heads up! This film is funny, but it also deals with some darker and heavier themes.

Without further ado, let’s get into the awesome and crazy true story about the extraordinary life of Steven Jay Russell (Jim Carrey).

The movie starts with a shot of future Steven Russell (Jim Carrey), laying in a hospitable bed staring into the camera with a long and blank stare. We hear the sound of a flat line and we hear a voice over for Steven talking about love.

“Love’s the reason I’m layin’ here dyin’.”

We cut from the hospital bed to a scene of a group of small children laying out in a field looking at the clouds. Steven’s mom calls for young elementary school aged Steven to come back to the house…where they decide to tell him that he was adopted…well not officially adopted, but purchased from a woman in the hospital parking lot with a bag of money.

We potatoes found this whole thing strange, and had a lot of questions! What is with the timing? Why are you telling him this now and so randomly? Also, why on earth would you tell him that you gave his bio mom a bag of money in a parking lot for him? Surely he could have learned the details when he was a bit older? Telling him he is adopted sure…but the manner in which he was adopted is sketchy. His parents are definitely odd ones. They are not cruel per se, just very misguided and strange…but we digress!

Steven decides that while the news stings a bit, especially considering the way his parents told him, he was not going to “Let it get him down.” He was going to be the best person he could be!

We cut to a church, and see adult Steven playing the piano and singing along with the choir. He has a large, but relatively fake looking grin on his face as he sings. Toxic positivity is a real problem that permeates our society in many ways…but can especially be found within the church community.

Next, we see Steven walking into what must be the sheriff’s station with a sheriff’s uniform on. He is some kind of deputy, or something along those lines. He is clearly doing his best to live up to an image of being a perfect person with a perfect life.

Later we see him putting his little daughter to bed. He is incredibly sweet with her and you can tell that he cares for her very much.

He and his wife Debbie (Leslie Mann), are saying their prayers before bed, and Debbie is long winded and ridiculous with her prayers. It is super silly, and made us laugh and roll our eyes at the same time.

After her long winded, nonsensical prayers they manage to make it to bed where they start being intimate…their intimacy looks boring and unsatisfying for all involved but especially for any female participants.

During their uninspiring time together, Steven tells her that he has the documents necessary to find his biological mom through his work at the sheriff’s department. He is unsure if it is the right thing to do…but Debbie, while simple, is very sweet.

She is excited for him, so as soon as they wrap up their awful time in bed they rush downstairs to look over everything and they find Steven’s mom!

He did it! Steven found his biological mother, and while he is thrilled at first…it is not so cut and dry. We cut back to future Steven lying in the hospital bed where we hear him admit that he only became a police officer in order to find his mother.

He admits that it may not have been the best choice, but it is what it is and it is what he did. He shows up at his bio mom’s house where he expresses his upset at being “abandoned” by her. He is confused as to why she kept her 2 other children…but not him. He would have been the middle child!

“What’s wrong with me?!”

This scene is both silly and sad. We felt for Steven. We wanted to tell him that there is nothing wrong with him. He is wonderful just as he is…what we are thinking may have happened is that he may not be her husband’s child…there are many circumstances in which this could happen but that was one of our thoughts while watching this scene.

Something happened and Steven may be her child…but maybe he is not her partner’s child and perhaps she was afraid that it would be evident? Or maybe keeping him was too painful because the circumstances around his conception are complicated, traumatic or difficult for her?

We cannot say for sure, but we want to tell Steven that there could be many reasons why this occurred and none of them have anything to do with his person. He is not less than because of his biological mom’s choices.

Anyway, we digress again!

Steven’s bio mom is not happy to see him once she realizes who he is. She slams the door in his face and tells him to leave. Steven is understandably incredibly upset and steals the welcome mat because,“It’s a lie!”

He quit the police force that very same day, moved his family all the way to Texas and got a job working in produce for Sysco. He is throwing a large barbecue and life appears to be good! Emphasis on appears to be good…Steven really cares about appearances.

The next scene is relatively graphic, but nothing to write home about. Steven is having far more satisfying intimacy with someone…who? Not Deb…a man! This is where we learn that Steven is gay!

Voice over Steven talks about how he is gay and has been gay his whole life! He says that he has been living a lie. Our smashed hearts hurt for Steven. He should have never had to lie about who he is. We hate that for him. Deb is a sweet woman…but she is not the person or sex for him and that is ok!

Anyway, on his way home from his liaison with his lover, he gets into a horrible car accident. Like, totaled his car and sustained major injuries kind of accident.

While he is being wheeled into the ambulance he declares his truth! Please pardon the verbiage here, it is a direct quote, “I’m gonna be a fag.”

He decided to start his life over again! He wants to live his life authentically and be himself! We love this for him!

He moves to Florida, meets his first boyfriend Jimmy (Rodrigo Santoro), gets a new place and two cute mini Dobermans. Steven is living it up in Florida! Spending money on anything and everything his heart desires…but it is a bit strange.

Steven is living an incredibly expensive lifestyle and for some reason he thinks that “Being gay is expensive.” 

This made us laugh because obviously his expensive lifestyle has nothing to do with who he loves or how he loves. It has everything to do with the type of lifestyle he wants and can afford to provide for himself. Now, we potatoes are all about enjoying what little time we have on this earth…but it all felt odd. How is Steven affording all of this?! He still works for Sysco right?

Well, Steven’s issues with lying have nothing to do with him being gay (obviously) …and everything to do with the fact that he is a con artist! We see a hilarious montage of his various cons, and how he makes all of this money to live this high life that he wants.

He tries and succeeds at any kind of fraud he could do to make money. Charismatic, smart, and definitely egotistical…Steven is a very good con artist!

He makes so much money with his crimes that he sends wads of cash to Deb and his daughter for Christmas. Deb is uncomfortable with it, but she still has a decent relationship with Steven despite their split.

Steven can only keep up the cons for so long before he gets caught! Steven realizes that he is about to be caught when he sees police officers waiting for him at his Sysco office…he leaves before they can see him and attempts to unalive himself while driving in his car.

He wakes up in a hospital and Jimmy is there. Jimmy leaves the room to talk to Deb and a police officer. Steven seizes his opportunity and attempts to escape but they see him trying to sneak off!

Steven somehow makes it to the roof where he tries to jump off and into a dumpster! He is still loopy from the medication so he is not able to aim very well and just manages to fall flat on his face on the concrete.

This scene is so silly and outrageous! Poor Steven, so doped up and afraid that he can’t think clearly. There was no way he was going to be able to get away even if he did land in the dumpster!

Of course, Steven ends up in prison and we see Steven showing a newer person around the place! He has it down, and the answer to anything you may want in prison is to either pay a lot of money, or suck someone’s dick! Your choice!

It is all extremely blunt, and comical. Steven seems to have acclimated to prison life relatively well. He is getting by. It is not easy, and well, prison is prison. It is not a good time to say the least. But Steven is smart and managing fairly well for himself.

While making a call to Deb to try to talk to his daughter, Steven sees a new face. A face that he has not seen before, but one that strikes him fiercely. He follows this young man into the library where they have their first meeting.

This is our favorite character throughout the whole rest of the film, this man is Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). Steven can’t seem to help himself, he tells Phillip that he is an attorney which, of course, is not true but it gives him an in to talk to Phillip.

Steven and Phillip are so cute together, but Steven does come on very strongly which puts Phillip off a bit at first. Phillip warms up quickly though. Steven is incredibly charming and is really good at getting what he wants.

Steven has been struck by cupid’s arrow and he is determined. He is smitten with Phillip and we cannot honestly blame him. Phillip is a sweet, gentle, sensitive and genuinely kind person.

Their love story begins with notes that they pass on to each other through another inmate named Cleavon (Michael Mandell). While we do not love Cleavon’s homophobic speech...he is a pretty funny character and he helps them a lot!

As they write more and more letters to each other Phillip and Steven’s relationship grows and grows. They bond deeply and eventually, through Stevens’s machinations, they are able to share a cell together!

We are going to sum things up from here, the relationship between Steven and Phillip is the heart and soul of the film. The acting is amazing and their love is so well done that you will feel it through the screen.

But, Steven is still Steven, and Phillip is an incredibly vulnerable person. When they get out of prison Steven falls back into bad habits, and Phillip has a deep seeded need to feel safe and stable which makes him a little codependent. Phillip loves Steven and struggles to deal with Steven’s manipulation, lying and overall self-destructive behavior.

Steven spends so much of the film reinventing himself, but very little time truly being himself. He comes across as someone who does not really know who he is, but is desperately grasping at straws for identity. Long before the cons, the fake careers, and the outrageous schemes, Steven was already performing. He was pretending to be straight. Pretending to be fulfilled. Pretending to fit neatly into a life that was never right for him. Growing up gay in a society that often condemns, shames, or outright rejects LGBTQIA+ people can force people into impossible situations.

Many learn early on that being authentic may cost them their family, community, faith, safety, or sense of belonging. While Steven's dishonesty and manipulation are ultimately his own responsibility, we could not help but wonder how much of his compulsive need to reinvent himself began with being taught that his authentic self was unacceptable. There is something deeply tragic about a man who finally finds the courage to stop lying about who he loves, yet still struggles to stop lying about everything else.

Something else that stood out to us potatoes while revisiting this film was the presence of codependency within Steven and Phillip's relationship. Codependency is a complicated dynamic where one person's sense of stability, identity, or self-worth becomes overly tied to another person. Often, one partner is constantly rescuing, fixing, enabling, or sacrificing while the other struggles with unhealthy behaviors that continue unchecked.

We do not think Phillip and Steven fit this definition perfectly, but we do see elements of it throughout their relationship. Phillip desperately wants safety, stability, and love. Steven desperately wants Phillip. The problem is that love alone cannot fix the deeper issues both men are carrying. Phillip repeatedly forgives behavior that hurts him because he loves Steven, while Steven often relies on Phillip's forgiveness rather than confronting the consequences of his actions.

It creates a dynamic that is simultaneously beautiful, heartbreaking, and frustrating. Their love is real, but real love is not always healthy love. Sometimes love can exist alongside dysfunction, and we feel that this film does a surprisingly honest job of exploring that reality.

Toxic and dysfunctional relationships exist everywhere regardless of sexual orientation, and we appreciate that this movie does not just give us a fun, and beautiful love story but a real look into human relationships.

Human beings are messy and as such, our relationships often can be too. Not just with others but with ourselves. Steven has a difficult relationship with himself. It is tough to tell if Steven even really knows who he is.

We potatoes completely understand this and feel for Steven. Our relationships with ourselves is the most important relationship we can develop and nurture… and it is often the most neglected relationship we as human beings have.

We potatoes need to be very clear here, we are NOT dunking on Steven, Phillip, or their love! They are a beautiful couple and we hope that despite all of the nonsense that Steven has put Phillip through that they are able to find each other again once Steven is finally out of prison. We hope for real personal growth, understanding, and self-love for Steven and Phillip.

Lastly, we potatoes would also be remiss if we did not take a moment to praise the filmmaking itself! I Love You Phillip Morris is vibrant, colorful, energetic, and bursting with personality. The film balances comedy and drama remarkably well, shifting from laugh-out-loud absurdity to genuine heartbreak without feeling jarring. Jim Carrey delivers one of our favorite performances of his career. Steven is charming, frustrating, hilarious, selfish, vulnerable, and deeply human all at the same time.

It would have been easy for the character to become a caricature, but Carrey gives him enough sincerity that we continue to care about him even when he is making terrible decisions. Ewan McGregor is equally wonderful as Phillip Morris, bringing a sweetness, tenderness, and emotional vulnerability that makes it easy to understand why Steven falls so completely in love with him. The chemistry between the two leads is absolutely fantastic and serves as the emotional foundation of the entire film. Without it, none of the wild twists, cons, escapes, or grand romantic gestures would work nearly as well as they do.

As we potatoes reflect on I Love You Phillip Morris, we find ourselves thinking less about the cons, the prison escapes, and the outrageous true story elements, and more about the complicated people at the center of it all. Beneath the comedy is a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of identity, authenticity, love, self-worth, and the lengths people will go to in search of acceptance and belonging.

Steven spends much of the film reinventing himself, chasing happiness through new identities, new stories, and new versions of himself. Yet for all of his intelligence and charisma, he seems to struggle with the simplest and most difficult task of all: being honest. Not just with other people, but with himself. Phillip, meanwhile, reminds us how easy it can be to lose ourselves in the people we love, especially when we are searching for safety, stability, and connection.

I Love You Phillip Morris is funny, romantic, heartbreaking, frustrating, bizarre, and surprisingly profound. It celebrates love without pretending that love alone solves everything. It gives us flawed people, messy relationships, questionable decisions, and genuine emotion. In short, it gives us humanity.

We potatoes absolutely adore this film and highly recommend it! If you enjoy unconventional love stories, true crime, fantastic performances, and movies that are equal parts hilarious and heartfelt, then this is the film for you!

Cheers to authenticity! Cheers to loving people for who they truly are! Cheers to finding the courage to be yourself in a world that often asks you to be someone else! Cheers to a future where no one has to choose between belonging and being authentic! Cheers to love! And most importantly, cheers to you!

We give this movie 5 rainbow cocktails out of 5!

I Love You Phillip Morris Drinking Game

Take a sip anytime:

1.     Anytime you hear the theme song

2.     Anything phallic is on screen

3.     Deb mentions god, Jesus, or gods plan

4.     Steven has a blank stare on his face

5.     Steven lies

6.     Steven gets arrested

7.     Steven escapes prison

8.     Steven buys something new

9.     Steven puts on a fake smile

10.  Steven pulls a con

11.  Steven is charismatic or manipulative

12.  Steven bullshits his way through a tough situation

13.  Steven and Phillip send letters to each other

14.  Steven and Phillip are cute together

15.  Phillip is sweet or kind

16.  Phillip is cute or naive

17.  Cleavon yells

What do you think? Do you like the movie? Do you hate it? What movies should we watch? Do you like this drinking game? Are there rules missing? Is the game too intense? Are there movies that you think we should make a drinking game for? Let us know here in the comments and always remember to be safe and drink responsibly! (Drinks can be water, soda, anything nonalcoholic, etc. Please be safe, have fun and take care of you!)