Note: I won't spend too much time on the synopsis when writing movie reviews. You can easily look at a trailer or IMDb (
http://www.imdb.com/ ) for that.
As weird as it sounds, this movie is a kind of romantic comedy between Jim Carey and Ewan McGregor about the real life story of a con man (Steven Russell) that fell in love with a fellow inmate in prison (Phillip Morris). I won't spoil t too much, but Steven Russell did some unbelievable things, so much so that if it weren't from "This story is real" notice at the beginning of the movie, you would assume it's just a made up crazy story.
The movie was both funny and touching, and Carey's performance was spot on, making the whole story even more (and less) believable. McGregor's role as this supposedly naïve (of Carey's machinations) gay partner was also surprisingly good. I cannot insist enough how much the acting in this movie was a "tour de force", mixing effortlessly buffoonery and emotion, making us strangely relate to Carey's strange and eccentric character. The direction of both the comedy and romance aspects was excellent. The script has some flaws in terms of pacing and exposing characters' motivations, but overall it is a good and enjoyable movie.
Oh, and yes, it's a gay romance. They kiss. Russell's homosexuality is an important plot point. I'm saying that because reading some of the reviews of this movie written from the USA made this point a "big deal", far more than the script, direction or acting, be it out of uneasy political correctness or outrage of the portrayal of the "gay lifestyle". If you can go beyond that, you'll be able to appreciate on the best Carey's role in years.