Fun With Dick & Jim

Jim Carrey. God. Jim Carrey. Morgan Freeman, Jim Carrey man.
Christ, Jim Carrey. Jim Caviezel, Jim Carrey.

Oh, yeah, Ewan McGregor, he's in this one too.

But don't let that put you off.

Nor the vulgar language, the rather silly premise, the odd moments where comedy leaves for more character development, emotional connections, or just comedy leaves to bring a cringe before comedy resurges in genius.

By the time I Love You Phillip Morris was on it's second reel, I didn't care how bad the film would get, the first 20 minutes were fantastic, but they were on a roll and continued.

For a film I've read about for years, waited patiently, watched the trailer, unsure of the tone, finally seeing the whole piece, about a cop turned con-man to pay for his recent coming out of the closet relationships, and eventually landing himself in prison, meeting the love of his life and grifting his way to pay for the good life, I was amazed at how consistent the comedy came, be it slapstick, wit, good use of swearing, mixed with a fast paced plot, with lots of key moments, and some rather dark elements coming forth, including a sequence involving an AIDS related death.

The film is just laugh out loud, and if you're not doing that by the time we see Carrey leap off a building, aiming for a dumpster, and the camera looks over, his body already slammed on the concrete next to it, well, there's no hope for you.

Unlike A Prophet, this isn't the generic prison kind of film, sure it'd be hard to be a comedy drama with heavy issues dealt with, but it doesn't jump for cliche, it uses and plays with it for our amusement.
One wonderful prison sequence has the couple dancing to music played in the cell next door, when all we hear are guards beating the man next door, vulgarities and the music, slightly. The contrast is hysterical and intersting, one of those gem moments that keep a film in the mind.

A fantastic, painfully hysterical film that will probably only be watched because it's advertised like a Jim Carrey movie meets Fantastic Mr. Fox (Judging by the poster).
9/10