P.S I Love You
Cast: Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Kathy Bates, Lisa Kudrow, Harry Connick Jr. Dir: Richard Gravenese Rating: 3/5
Holly (Swank) and Gerry(Butler) are your typical New York couple in love but stressed out with financial issues and family worries.
But this world comes crashing down when Gerry dies from a brain tumour leaving Holly drowning in her grief.
But Gerry had a plan writing his wife a series of letters, that arrive in unusual ways, to help her cope with his death and move on with her life.
It depends on which way you look at this film as to whether it's to be deemed a success or not. View it simply as a movie and it's a heartfelt and poignant picture about loss and coping with grief, not as grim as might be expected.
Hilary Swank has, quite possibly, the most difficult role of going from the hard hitting dramas such as Million Dollar Baby and Boys Don't Cry that have made her a double Oscar winner to a romantic lead.
She copes well with this unfamiliar genre of film as the unsure woman who fears making mistakes in her life. She interacts well with Gerard Butler, who is a far cry from his role in 300, whose Irish charm and carefree attitude brings Holly out of her shell as we as drive her crazy.
But for both actors, along with the rest of this great cast, the script doesn't really present them with anything overly challenging for them to get their teeth into.
The film does pack an emotional punch as Holly struggles to cope with her life without Gerry, and this will resonate with anyone who has ever lost anyone close to them quite possibly bringing a tear to your eye.
It's not all doom and gloom as director Gravenese cleverly weaves in plenty of humour to keep you from slitting your wrists.
Here Lisa Kudrow steals the show as the man eating but honest Denise in a world where perhaps this behaviour isn't seen as socially acceptable. Also adding great comic relief is Harry Connick Jr as bartender Daniel whose apparent lack of social skills make him appear rude but will get plenty of laughs.
However if you look at P.S I Love as an adaptation of Cecilia Ahern's best selling novel then it is way off the mark.
It's sad to think that no movie setting can exist outside of New York city for anyone who has actually read the book it's set in Ireland.
In fact, making an exception of Gerry dying and leaving his wife letters, there are very few similarities between this movie and the original story to call it an adaptation does become a bit of a joke.
The character of Denise, Sharon and John are very 2D not exploring the feelings of their grief at the loss of their friend.
The dynamic of Holly's family has become extremely distorted bringing aspects to the movie that are not present in the book. For those who have read this novel you will notice that Holly's father and brother do not exist in this big screen 'adaptation'.
Kathy Bates' Patricia is very cold still angry from her husband leaving her with two children years ago, I'm sorry but weren't they are still happily married couple? This puts a strain on the relationship between Holly and her mother that's not there in the book and totally out of place in the film.
However it is fair to argue that Cecilia Ahern's novel is very character orientated to try and fit them all into a two hour movie would have made is very overcrowded so cut had to be made.
However the family aspect of always being there for one another through good and bad times, despite driving each other crazy, was one of the most heart-warming aspects of the novel and it's a shame that this isn't fully intact in the film.
In all I did enjoy P.S I Love You as it got the emotional aspect of the story bang on without going over the top and wallowing in the idea of death.
The performances were good if nothing new has been brought to the romantic comedy drama. It does seem a real shame though that a truer version of this great novel could have been brought to the big screen.
P.S I Love You is out to rent and buy now.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw