P.S., I Love You
(DVD Review)
By MovieCritic on 05-13-2008
P.S., I Love You was panned by the critics but met with approval from audiences. The likeable, attractive actors and comfortably predictable plot give Cooperative types (Idealists and Guardians) a light cinematic experience for DVD viewing. Pragmatic types (like the critics!) will probably lose interest as the film moves along, losing both logic and momentum on the way. It's an unusual role for Hilary Swank; she does a decent job in comedic territory.
Holly Kennedy (Hilary Swank) and Gerry Kennedy (Gerald Butler) are a young couple in their salad days. Their fights about when and whether to have children and how to manage their careers segue into passionate make-up sex. When a brain tumor kills Gerry, Holly holes herself up in their apartment. She listens to his voice over and over again on the answering machine and drunkenly sings along to Judy Garland videos. When mom Patricia (Kathy Bates) brings the family by to celebrate her 30th birthday, a surprise arrives. Gerry has made a tape in a mini-cassette recorder that tells Holly she'll receive a series of letters containing "orders" that will get her out of the house and into her new life. These letters and the nudging by her family lead Holly to Ireland, where she has a fling with Gerry's old friend Billy Gallagher (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and a try at romance with awkward suitor Daniel (Harry Connick, Jr.), her mother's employee. The premise is fun; the execution is a little spotty. For instance, in a really heavyhanded bit of foreshadowing, Holly is revealed to have a taste for expensive shoes. Later on, after her emotional meltdown gets her fired from the real estate job she hates, she launches a career as a shoe designer. It seems far-fetched that she can jump into such a competitive field so easily just because Gerry is coaching her from beyond the grave. Verdict: If you don't expect too much, this movie may please you -- especially if you're a fan of the fantastic Hilary Swank.
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Posted by bsaunders on May 29, 2008
Have you noticed that a lot of movies and TV shows seem unfinished? It's as if the writers/filmmakers get to a certain point and decide they've done enough to hook people's interest, and they see no reason to invest their time and talents further! |
Just based on the cast, I wanted to see P.S. I Love You. Hillary Swank did not disappoint. I’m sure the critics began to hate the film three-quarters through when the plot moved to Ireland when all movement seemed to slow to glacier pace and descend into the most treacly chickflickdom imaginable. It’s as though the writers went on strike and the director just made up the last thirty minutes with the help of an infirm Class B writer from fifties sit-coms. HOWEVER, I loved the premise of leaving your widow a few weeks or months of follow-up letters following your death. Now how much more romantic could you get? And there’s one more thing – an important new person (new to me anyway). Watch the career of Nellie McKay who played Hillary’s overly positive sister Clara. Late in the film, she sang a verse of the song P.S. I Love You in the background. You will see Nellie pop up here and there – at a concert in China, on NPR, etc. She resembles a diminutive Mira Sorvino, and has a very sexy speaking voice. As an artist and person, she appears to be either an off-the-wall highly talented Idealist or endlessly charming Artisan. You’ll find some good stuff on her at the NPR website and You Tube.