Films fall to the wayside all the time. Often it’s because of distribution problems, other times it’s because there’s no confidence in the film, and at best it retreats to straight-to-video hell. But it comes as a real surprise to see I Love You Philip Morris, a film starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor, once again lose its release date in the US. Originally slated for late March, the film was pushed back by distributors Consolidated Pictures Group until late April. And now it has been removed from that date with no new one.

The reasons are unclear. Are CPG undergoing a cash-flow crisis and waiting until they can deliver prints to cinemas around the country? Or do they fear that a film staring two highly recognisable action playing homosexual lovers won’t sell at all? It doesn’t bode well that I Love You Phillip Morris has difficulty in being picked up by a distributor when it was screened in the Sundance film festival.

The real shame is that the film is actually quite good, a clever comedy that doesn’t become heavy-handed in dealing with homosexuality. And Carrey and McGregor both deliver their best performances in years. The only shimmer of light is that the film does seem to be doing relatively well abroad. It may not be storming the box-office, but it has already earned over $8 million in about 20 countries around the world. Surely that’s enough of a reason to give it a proper cinema release in the US?