I Love You, Phillip Morris
Ohh, here we go.
This movie would've been funnier without Jim Carrey in it. He surprises me--he's a good actor. But what's his deal? Or, better yet, why is he still doing it? I want some growth in his comedy, some growth in his humor. And here, it's not.
So I watch it, thinking, ooohhh uuuggghhh Jimmmm Caarrreeeyy (who I usually love,), and then, later on in the film, he pulls out some pretty good moments, and I think, JIM CARREY YOU'RE DRIVING ME NUTS. I want him to always be good, and I want his comedy to grow up.
And then, there's a couple of moments where the cameras focus on certain aspects of Texas life, Texas stereotypes, that I don't appreciate.
Maybe it's just me, but they're not funny, and if you're not from Texas, you won't even notice them.
Ewan McGregor's in it, and he's amazing, making me want to immediately rent and watch every Ewan McGregor movie ever made.
Isn't it funny how it doesn't take much to be an amazing actor? It doesn't. Just do your job, be honest, don't lie to your audience, and you'll immediately be amazing. Do it. Do it!
I can understand why this movie was made. It's cute. It's funny. It's interesting. I watched it all the way through. But it doesn't do justice to what is actually going on in the story. Jim Carrey is abusive, manipulative, a big fat liar, and does a LOT of illegal stuff, all the time. But don't worry, it's okay because he's gay. His ends justify his means, which is not okay. So, we watch it, but it's a little far-fetched for reality. A little too stereotyped, a little too meh.
i look forward to discussing this with you, i had a very different take on it.
ReplyDeleteLady love, this is totally the place to do it. There's thousands and thousands following this blog that could benefit from an opinion different than mine. ;)
ReplyDeleteI didn't see this movie, so I'm postulating. Would this movie ever have been made if the storyline didn't involve homosexuality?
ReplyDeleteAnd before you assign assumptions to my question, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that being part of the story. I ask the question because I suspect that this is just another of the many movies that are greenlit and pushed through production at neck-breaking speed simply because of it's homosexual content and 'message'. You can't argue that the studios don't have an agenda concerning this topic, which is fine, but I feel like they shoot themselves in the foot when they try so hard to flood the market (in a manner of speaking) with movies involving gay men to the point that the movie itself suffers from being underproduced. These movies die the death of ideological manipulation, in that while you watch the movie, you can feel the writers/directors/actors/studios telling you how to think about certain issues.
Again, I've never seen this, but I did read a few reviews online of the movie. And every review focused a good part of their review on the homosexual commentary. So clearly the movie was successful in pushing it's theories.
For me, that is too small a topic to base an entire view of the world on, which means the characters in a movie like that would not be fully developed. This is why every romantic comedy generally falls flat on the character development - because every character's entire being in the movie revolves around their relationship with their partner.
Well, that's gotta be the longest review I've had for a movie I haven't seen :)!
To your postulation: NOT AT ALL. have you seen the movie poster for it? It's all about them being gay.
ReplyDeleteIt has nothing to do with being gay in prison (where, in real life, they would suredly be beaten up,) it has VERY LITTLE to do with finding yourself (seeing that Jim Carrey NEVER sees the error of his ways,) and it has NOTHING to do with a loving, healthy relationship (Jim Carrey is manipulative, abusive, and irresponsible for "the sake of love," and Ewan McGregor only "forgives" him when Jim Carrey fakes his own death.
The message isn't shoved down your throat as much as you would expect, (no pun intended, don't ever tell anyone in the office I made that joke.) I mean, they make out and Jim Carrey flits around the whole time, but there's no lingering emotions over them being gay. For example, they don't get beat up in prison, and Jim Carrey's hugely religious ex-wife is very accepting.
But it's obvious that the movie hinges on it. It's not that interesting otherwise. And the biggest difference between Jim Carrey's gay man, and Ewan McGregor's gay man, is that McGregor successfully grounds his character in reality, instead of looking at everyone with big, sheep eyes that say, "I'm playing a gay man! I'm playing a gay man!" every second.
You're very right about feeling the direction of my feelings. I remember watching the movie thinking, "This is supposed to make gayness reachable. This is supposed to make everyone think gay in normal and happy and good."
Which, it is, but I know my dad would have a heart attack watching fifteen seconds of the trailer of this movie, regardless of how it is presented.
MAYBE if the studio had really grounded the movie with the reality--that two prisoners, one good, one bad, fall in love--the movie would have more success. but when they ground it in stereotypes (JIM CARREY--YOU'RE FAULT,) then I just don't really care for it. It's NOT new; it's NOT unusual.
In theatre, the only scenes that don't involve conflict are love scenes. And lack of conflict is not interesting. Luckily, the conflict in "I Love You, Phillip Morris," is internal, but...stttttiiiilllll.....