I Love You Phillip Morris
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: December 3, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
9
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallDec 22, 2010
Think "Catch Me If You Can" mashed up with "Brokeback Mountain" if Mel Brooks directed and you'll get the idea. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumDec 6, 2010
It's the beaming movie-star intensity of the complicated comic Carrey in the role of the dominant lover and Obi-Wan Kenobi McGregor as the gentle beloved that makes this unfettered, stranger-than-fiction picture pop. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenDec 6, 2010
A Jim Carrey movie all the way: a good one, I might add. With his manic glare, ferociously eager smile, hyperkinetic body language and talent for instant self-transformation, Mr. Carrey has rarely been more charismatic on the screen. Read full review
90
VarietyJohn AndersonDec 6, 2010
Less of a comedy than a hilarious tragedy, I Love You Phillip Morris stars Jim Carrey in his most complicated comedic role since "The Cable Guy." Read full review
90
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonDec 6, 2010
Nothing tops ILYPM's Jim Carrey ... in the most gloriously raunchy, unrepentant moment in the an(n)als of Hollywood A-listers doing gay-for-pay. Read full review
88
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreDec 25, 2010
It is Carrey, turning his patented rubber-faced, rubber-voiced shtick loose on a role with heart, substance and entertainment value, who makes this romantic farce a movie too good to sit on any studio's shelf. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertDec 8, 2010
Carrey makes the role seem effortless; he deceives as spontaneously as others breathe. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasDec 6, 2010
Ficarra and Requa are more comfortable being bad: The nastier the film gets, the better it is. Read full review
80
EmpireStaff (Not credited)Dec 6, 2010
One of the funniest films of the year, this is a wonderful mix of old-school Carrey outrageousness with a genuinely touching - and very modern - love story. Read full review
80
NPRBob MondelloDec 6, 2010
"Liar Liar" meets Obi-Wan? Who'da thunk even fearless star power could make these two work as a romantic pair? But both stars prove to be enormous fun in a gay love story played straight in a thoroughly crooked context. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirDec 6, 2010
Carrey provides one of his most whacked-out and enjoyable performances. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaDec 17, 2010
McGregor, playing his lover, is a perfect foil: gentle, funny, magnetic. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisDec 9, 2010
The performance often errs on the side of cartoon, but it's laced with flashes of remorse and chagrin, with sincerity. When Carrey tries to do "dramatic acting'' the life always goes of out him. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 6, 2010
It's one crazy love story, but Carrey and McGregor make it work by making us buy the romance as the real thing. There's something about these Marys that pulls you in. Read full review
75
MovielineStephanie ZacharekDec 6, 2010
This is a love story in which one of the partners repeatedly does some really bad stuff, and while it's easy enough to admire him for his ability to get away with it all, it's harder to square the way he so cheerfully dupes innocent people, including his beloved. Read full review
75
New York PostLou LumenickDec 6, 2010
It's a welcome alternative to the homogenized Hollywood releases that proliferate during the holiday season. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelDec 9, 2010
If you're a fan of provocative, offbeat films such as "My Own Private Idaho" or "The Crying Game," you might want to give "Phillip Morris" a chance. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezDec 24, 2010
Likable but uneven comedy by writer-directors Glenn Ficara and John Requa (Bad Santa). Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 9, 2010
Ultimately, the plot (irrespective of how faithful it is to real life) isn't the problem - it's the unevenness with which co-directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (both making their directorial debuts) approach it that limits the film's success and mutes the experience of sitting through it. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichDec 6, 2010
People who like their comedies pitch black (we're talking midnight, no stars or moon) should get a kick out of the tale of Steven Russell (Carrey). Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 6, 2010
I Love You Phillip Morris is tragedy, or something close to it, decked out in comedy's clothes. Read full review
60
The New YorkerAnthony LaneDec 6, 2010
At best, I Love You Phillip Morris may be hailed as a necessary step in Hollywood's fearful crawl toward sexual evenhandedness; the film upholds the constitutional right of every gay man to be as much of a liar, a crook, and a creep as the rest of us. Makes you proud. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerDec 6, 2010
The movie, at its best, is compellingly odd, which is also the most accurate description of Carrey's performance. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianM. E. RussellDec 16, 2010
Carrey fearlessly gives it his best shot, but this fundamental schizophrenia strong-armed me out of the film, and left me feeling like McGregor's more grounded performance existed in another movie entirely. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanDec 9, 2010
There's plenty to scratch your head about here. Is it a drama? A comedy? And if it's a farce, what's it making fun of? Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyDec 6, 2010
It's clear from first frame to last that the filmmakers decided to go broad, very broad, with a story that swings between hysterical, hyper-sexual, bizarre, surprisingly tender and just plain awful. This is one mixed bag of a movie. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedDec 6, 2010
This is an oddball tale that is well worth telling, but Mr. Carrey simply cannot resist turning it into a Three Stooges routine in drag. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliDec 6, 2010
A tonally confused, fitfully entertaining film about a pathologically two-faced man. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia PuigDec 6, 2010
Barrels around in manic fashion much like Carrey does in most of his movies. He's meant to be a fool for love, but mostly he's just bonkers. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovDec 17, 2010
It's confused and confusing, by turns hilarious and off-putting. In short, it's awfully hard to love I Love You Philip Morris. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesDec 9, 2010
Unfortunately, as the opening title might suggest, the filmmakers have punted on the hard cinematic work of making the incredible seem credible; instead they've turned Russell's story into a broad farce with one wocka-wocka gag after another. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierDec 6, 2010
I Love You Phillip Morris not only blasts gay stereotypes back decades, it could actually make people wish for a third "Ace Ventura" movie. Both of those are an accomplishment, though neither is a compliment. Read full review
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