I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A con man's desperate and repeated attempts to reunite with his prison lover lead to a series of elaborate escapes and deceptions.
The story
Steven Jay Russell is a man on his deathbed recalling his life, which included a career as a police officer and a marriage he eventually left behind to live as a gay man. After moving to Miami and adopting a luxurious lifestyle, Steven becomes a con man to maintain his status. His life takes a dramatic turn when he is sent to prison, where he falls in love with a fellow inmate named Phillip Morris. Unable to bear the separation, Steven begins a series of elaborate schemes to be reunited with Phillip, involving fraudulent identities and financial crimes.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
While on his deathbed, Steven Jay Russell recounts his life: from being a Virginia Beach police officer to moving to Texas and eventually Miami, where he lived a luxurious life as a gay man with his boyfriend, Jimmy. To fund this lifestyle, Steven became a con man and was eventually imprisoned, where he fell in love with Phillip Morris. After Phillip's release, Steven posed as a lawyer to help free him and later became a CFO for a medical company, USAMM, through fraud. After being caught embezzling, Steven faked dying of AIDS to see Phillip, but was eventually caught again. He repeatedly escaped prison in various ways, but was always recaptured. Eventually, Phillip realized Steven's lies and they were separated again. However, after learning Steven was dying, Phillip called him to confess his love. In the end, Steven faked dying of AIDS again to see Phillip one last time, only to be caught by an old co-worker. The film concludes by explaining that the real Phillip Morris was released in 2006, while Steven remained in 23-hour lockup due to a grudge held by an official.
- First release year
- 2009
- Runtime (minutes)
- 98
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- John Requa; Glenn Ficarra
- Writers
- John Requa · screenplay; Glenn Ficarra · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Jim Carrey · Steven Jay Russell; Ewan McGregor · Phillip Morris; Rodrigo Santoro; Antoni Corone; Leslie Mann
- Genres
- biographical; romantic comedy; crime; drama
- Themes
- love; deception; identity; prison life
- Tone and mood
- sweet; funny; daring; tragic
- Premise and plot tags
- biographical; romantic comedy; crime; prison escape; LGBTQ+
- Source material / true-story basis
- I Love You Phillip Morris: A True Story of Life, Love, and Prison Breaks by Steve McVicker (2003)
- Content notes
- gay sexual content
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with Jim Carrey's performance receiving particular praise. It was described as a mix of old-school Carrey outrageousness and a touching love story.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 71% · review count: 161; Rotten Tomatoes · score: 6.6/10 · scale: 10; Metacritic · score: 65 · scale: 100 · review count: 32
- Awards and nominations
- GLAAD Media Award · Outstanding Film – Limited Release · 22nd · won; Writers Guild of America Award · Best Adapted Screenplay · nominated
- Production trivia
- The real Phillip Morris appears in a cameo as Steven's lawyer in one of the final scenes.; Portions of the film were filmed at the Louisiana State Penitentiary (also known as Angola).; A Christian blogger stated that warden Burl Cain did not permit one sex scene between two male inmates to be filmed at the prison.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…