P.S. I Love You

Rating: 4/10 (4 February 2011)

I may have seen clips of this film featured in Great Movie Mistakes, but that wasn't going to stop me wanting to see it, as I has wanted to since I liked the two leading actors and sounded like something to be tried. Basically the beautiful Holly Kennedy (Hilary Swank) and her good looking Irish husband Gerry (Gerard Butler) may have had a small squabble or two sometimes, but they were a happily married living in Manhattan on the Lower East Side. It is only after the tragic death of Gerry, from an incurable brain tumour, that Holly really realises how in love with him she really was but may not have shown it enough. So it comes to Holly's thirtieth birthday, and she only has her friends, Denise Hennessey (Lisa Kudrow) and Sharon McCarthy (Gina Gershon) to offer some comfort, but she gets a shock present. Obviously no-one knew Holly better than Gerry, so when she gets a surprise cake, she is shocked to read that it is from Gerry, he says that this is the first of a series of letters he arranged to have delivered for after his death. Holly is now hoping everyday to receive a new letter from Gerry, from beyond the grave, and every one details a surprise he had prearranged, and all end with the meaningful words "P.S. I Love You". So through the passing seasons she gets details of shopping days, going to a karaoke night, and a holiday to his home country of Ireland, where they first met, and we see other flashbacks of the experiences he has given to do all over again. Patricia Reilly (Kathy Bates) is concerned that Gerry has done all this to keep Holly living in the past, but in fact they are leading the way towards her future, this is a journey of self discovery. After Denise reveals she is engaged, and Sharons reveals she is pregnant, Holly slip back into a hard feeling of sadness, but she picks herself back up to become a professional shoe artist, designing and making a new line. In the end Holly does receive the final letter Gerry made before he died, not long after almost getting close to friend Daniel Connelly (Harry Connick Jr.), and it basically says she can let go of the past, move on, and try and fall in love again, and she may do that. Also starring Nellie McKay as Ciara Reilly and Dean Winters as Tom. Swank is reliable almost all the way through, it was especially nice to see her get her great belly out, Butler in the flashbacks and voice-overs is a nice guy, and the supporting cast get their tiny moments of humour. It is funny in some moments, but the film is dominated by more of the feeling of sympathy for Swank reading these very sweet but overly reminiscent letters, also, I found the first half more interesting than the second, it is a pickled but near enjoyable comedy drama. Okay!