I Love You Phillip Morris: Out of the Closet, but Not out in Theaters
Why the funniest, most subversive film of the year — starring Jim Carrey as a gay felon — isn't coming to your local multiplex anytime soon
If that first rodeo-style gay-sex reveal was the inoculation — an in-your-face twist designed to get frat boys past the initial shock of the subject matter, at which point they can either laugh it off or storm out early — then Steven and Phillip's extended meet-cute behind bars is the truly subversive act that follows, getting straight audiences to care about two small-time cons in love, and doing so in a setting where Hollywood has long exploited their far-fetched prison-rape fears. Phillip Morris combats cheap homophobia with humor, demonstrating that laughter can be a far more effective tool for disarming prejudices than tears. The film embraces absurdity, putting those elements that make people uncomfortable about the so-called "gay lifestyle" in a place where we're allowed to examine and accept them — as opposed to playing it safe, the way I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry did in deflecting any macho discomfort by having the camera ogle Jessica Biel's boobs.
No taboo is off limits for Requa and Ficarra, who also poke fun at religious narrow-mindedness and racism. But it's the controversial way they treat AIDS (to say more would constitute a spoiler) that permanently separates this duo from the good-taste crowd. Not that they mind making sacrifices for the sake of changing people's minds. Between the uphill battle to get Phillip Morris made and the subsequent struggle to share the movie with audiences, the result is far more noble than its irreverent tone might suggest. And "going there" did open the door to a studio gig: The directors are now shooting a big-budget Steve Carell comedy for Warner Bros. As Ficarra puts it, "We're living proof that sometimes people do things for the right reason in Hollywood."
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