After Russell pays for others to beat a screaming inmate next to their cell ("That is the most romantic thing anyone ever did for me. I love you so much," gushes Morris) and Morris arranges to have romantic music played late at night so the two can dance, authorities separate the couple, sending Russell to another prison. The breakup is devastating as Morris rushes into the prison yard—where he has previously been terrified to enter—to scream out his love for Russell, Russell responding with film's title: "I love you Philip Morris."
It is only here that movie really begins, with Russell conning his way through system after system, becoming a lawyer so that he can free his lover, accomplishing small check frauds and false bodily injury claims, and, finally, finagling a job as a CFO for a large corporation, where he embezzles millions of dollars just to support Morris in a life style he "deserves." Indeed there is a sense throughout the film of Morris' belief in entitlement, perhaps because he has been previously so closeted, but also out of a righteous sense that the two deserve to live their lives in joyful celebration of their love. And to be fair, his cons actually make his company millions of dollars as well, he simply taking half of what he illegally raises by investing temporary payments into short-term accounts. His theft is petty when compared, one imagines, to the real CFOs and Wall Street business sharks. Yet time and again, Russell is caught and returned to prison. Through various clever ploys he escapes time after time (in real life Russell was described as the Houdini of prisoners), using the telephone with his skillful ability to convince unwitting authorities, several attempts at suicide, costumes, and other manipulations of the system to free himself and return to Morris.
When Russell is arrested after his business fraud, however, Morris is furious with the lies and deceit of his friend:
From the moment we met, you did nothing but lie. Our whole
relationship, just lies. I'm such an asshole. You took advantage
of me, just like all the others. You were supposed to protect me.
But you did nothing but make a fool out of me. And you expect
me to love you? How can I love you. I don't even know who you
are. You know what's sad? I don't even think you know who you
are. So how am I supposed to love someone that don't even exist,
you tell me.
The final irony is that the man who does not exist dies—so Morris is told. But when Russell shows up as a lawyer to visit Morris in prison, his lover punches him in the face. Russell again pleas:
Wait, listen. I just came here to tell you one thing, and that's it.
You don't have to take me back. I just want to say one thing. I know
you think that we were nothing but a lie, but underneath all those
lies, there was always something that was real. I thought about what
you said to me. You said you don't know who I am, but I know now. I
know who I am. I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a CFO, I'm not a cop,
I'm not an escape artist. Those Steven Russells are dead. Now all
that's important is the man that loves you. And if you could see that,
believe it, I promise I'll never be anything else ever again.
Morris' response: "How do I know you're not bullshitting me again?" is answered with the inevitable: "You don't."
In fact Russell does try, as a lawyer, to free his friend once again, but in the process is recognized. This time he is returned to prison for 140 years, and the real Steven Jay Russell remains in prison, in complete isolation, today.
Morris was released. But in the last scene Russell is still dreaming of his friend, imagining himself running from the guards in a final race toward love.
What began as a comedy has ended in a kind tragedy. For the man who sought so much out of his life has ended up with absolutely nothing. Whether or not he "deserves" better, the American system of justice will not forgive such a desperate foolishness.
Los Angeles, January 7, 2011
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