Not just a chick flick

Rating: 9/10 (29 December 2007)

To be fully honest, I'm not one for what we know as "chick-flicks" because of their tendency to be as predictable as a crystal ball or as cheesy as cheese. However, hearing that Gerard Butler and James Marsters were both in this film together, seeing as I adore both actors for many different reasons, I thought I might be able to stomach it and maybe even have a laugh.
By the end of the film, I found this film to be more than just a "chick-flick"; it was instead a bittersweet story about a young widow, played by the strongly talented Hilary Swank, coping with the death of her husband through letters that he'd written for her teaching her how to live and remember how to be happy with herself. All in all, I'd say it was a great film. It was one of those film that can make you smile, scream, laugh and cry and the writers capture the audiences emotions beautifully.
The writer has clearly gone through the same situation of losing a loved one because if I'm not mistaken, I do recall hearing my grandmother going through the same emotions that Swank's character was going through after her own husband passed away.
The acting in the film is perfectly done. Butler, though he can't hold an Irish accent very well, plays the role of a goofball perfectly, especially in his striptease scene and when he was watching his wife sing a sexy karaoke tune (poor guy was trying to contain himself while covering Marsters' eyes). Swank is also hilarious and in a scene when she's crying in an emotional breakdown, she plays it more realistically than I have ever seen on film.
What is also great about the film is that it rebels against most romantic comedies by practically spoofing typical chick-flick events, which was a great relief to me, since the recycled plots that I see in too many films and books nowadays (*cough*Enchanted*cough*) gets more than just annoying. Out of ten, I will give it a nine because the only problem I had with the film was Butler's accent. Other than that, it was a great film with a well-chosen cast and a well-written script.