I Love You Phillip Morris (2009) on Netflix
R20091h 38mBiographyComedyCrime
Steven Russell is a Virginia Beach police officer, church organist and married man. A car crash leads him to come out, and fraud sends him to prison, where he meets Phillip Morris.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.6/10104,286 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes71%
Trailer
Plot summary
In Virginia Beach, Steven Russell works as a police officer, plays the organ at church, and is married to Debbie. In his off-hours he searches for the mother who placed him for adoption. A car crash after a tryst pushes him to stop living a lie. He comes out, leaves his family, and moves to Miami, where he and his boyfriend Jimmy live lavishly, and he turns to cons and fraud to pay for it. The police pursue him, and he ends up in prison. There he meets Phillip Morris, a shy, quiet fellow inmate, and falls in love at first sight. Steven's wish to free Phillip and build a life together drives him to keep breaking the law.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
SPOILER
The real Steven Russell received a life sentence with 23-hour daily lockup, which the film suggests was payback because an official involved in his sentencing had a brother-in-law Russell had once conned.- The film's advertising campaign was accused of minimizing its homosexual themes to present the movie as a simple comedy and attract a larger audience, and Ewan McGregor was removed from the billing list in the trailer.
- The real Phillip Morris turns up in the film himself, appearing in a cameo as Steven's lawyer in one of the final scenes.
- The film's American release was delayed again in August 2009 over legal battles, before Roadside Attractions and Liddell Entertainment finally acquired U.S. distribution rights and released it that October.
