I wanted to like this but couldn't

Rating: 6/10 (1 January 2008)

Holly Kennedy (Hilary Swank) and husband Gerry (Gerard Butler) seem to have a happy marriage. Gerry dies of a brain tumor...but it seems he has arranged to have Holly sent messages AFTER his death telling her how to get on with her life.
OK--I love silly romance movies. "Sleepless in Seattle" is one of my favorites. This is VERY silly--but I didn't like it. For starters there are WAY too many love songs in it--I was getting he impression they were trying to sell a soundtrack album and could care less about the movie. Also they (stupidly) keep using clips from classic movies that had nothing to do with the plot. Seriously--WHY is Holly lip syncing to Judy Garland belting out "The Man Who Got Away"? Also the love "lessons" here are utterly predictable. It's far too long (over 2 hours), is flatly directed and badly staged. Also some really bad acting doesn't help--Kathy Bates looks blank, Lisa Kudrow is astonishingly lousy at the comic bits (that's inexcusable for someone who was on "Friends") and James Marsters is given nothing to do. Also Hilary Swank (a wonderful actress) can't do much with a horribly clichéd role. The plot rambles all over the place and there are WAY too many coincidences to believe in this.
The few good points: There's a trip to Ireland and the movie makes good use of the beautiful locations there; Gina Gershon is just great in a small role; there's a nice flash of male nudity; Jeffrey Dean Morgan is just great as William (a guy Holly meets in Ireland) and Gerard Butler is fantastic. He's not in the movie too much and he overacts, but his performance is so good and he's so likable and handsome that he gives the movie a much needed jump start.
Critics have savaged this. Now it's not good--but it's not a total bomb either. Butler made this movie bearable. I give it a 6.