A sleazy conman named Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) lives a lie with his wife Debbie (Leslie Mann) and daughter. He is actually a closet-case gay man who engages in secret encounters, but only when put into prison does he allow the true self to emerge. In jail he meets Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor), a soft-spoken and slightly effeminate Texan, and, of course, true love ensues. As a result, Russell plans a con job to give Phillip Morris a get out of jail opportunity. Once a free man, Morris can join his lover Russell by creating new identities and scamming people with their frauds. Their lives together merely continue the deceptions by which they have always lived.