This is the almost unbelievable true story of a con-man who ditched his wife and ended up in jail where he fell madly in love with another inmate which seemed to spur him on to an even more ridiculous crime spree when they were both released. The plot then gets even more far fetched and sillier but somehow also remains quite endearing.

Part bio-pic, part comedy and part romance this really good movie is particularly exceptional because it is a gay love story very sensitively played out by two major Hollywood mainstream stars: Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.  Yep, I know in the intro to this Blog I vow that I would never ever watch a Carrey movie, but he actually turns in a great performance …. the critics (who do go see all his work … poor souls!) claim it’s his best for years.

It was a big hit in Sundance 09, and was well received in Cannes that year, and then nothing more was heard of it as the Studios seemingly got really cold feet.  It surfaced in the UK for a blink-or-you’ll-miss-it-run in March this year, and was scheduled to be shown in US theaters in April BUT was pulled out one week before without any explanation. Now surprise surprise it’s being scheduled to open in the US on Christmas Day.  What would the baby Jesus think?

P.S. And part of the story is set, and also filmed, here in Miami Beach