Total tearjerker falsely billed as a romantic comedy

Rating: 7/10 (26 January 2008)

I saw this movie on a girls-night-out to the movies, and we chose it on the basis of the previews, which had billed it as a romantic comedy. Wow, were they ever wrong! The basic plot is this: Woman loses husband far too early and tragically. Woman grieves for husband, hard. Husband, through a plan pre-arranged before his death, sends woman letters at set intervals, each one causing a fresh stream of tears to fall.
The acting was great. Hillary Swank was particularly good in her role, and let us see her vulnerability and conflicting emotions. The supporting cast was all excellent, and ladies, there is more than enough male eye candy in this movie to go around.
But - and I strongly warn all of you considering this as a light comedy or a date movie - it's sad. Very very sad. Even the happy parts are sad. If you go see this, wear waterproof mascara and bring lots of tissues. Don't say I didn't warn you.