Empire's P. S. I Love You Movie Review

Plot
Holly (Swank) and Gerry (Butler) are happily married - mostly. But when he dies, she is bereft and unable to cope, until a series of letters that Gerry wrote for her start to arrive, helping her to move on.

This film opens on a bickering couple. She’s Holly (Hilary Swank); irritable, passive-aggressive and buttoned-up even when she strips off to get into bed. He’s Gerry (Gerard Butler); charming and flirtatious even when he loses his temper. Many grievances are aired - they married young, they’re poor, she has a father complex and he’s irresponsible. Strangely unremarked goes Gerry’s most grievous fault, an Irish accent straight from Sean Connery’s Darby O’Gill school. It’s one of the worst scenes of the year.

Perversely, things look up at Gerry’s funeral. Holly is bereft. Her family and friends - chief among them Lisa Kudrow and Gina Gershon as her best mates - busily comfort her, but find time to introduce humour into a film sorely in need of it.

What follows veers wildly in tone. There are moments of genuine pathos, as the double Oscar-winning Swank dons her widow’s weeds - or at least disreputable PJs - and slowly learns to stop wallowing. Supported by mum Kathy Bates and with the steady flirting of new bloke Harry Connick Jr., Holly finds herself again (it’s that sort of film) through the medium of letters from her late loved one and, er, karaoke.

But every time the film starts to engage with the trauma of losing a husband, LaGravenese cuts to a nauseatingly uplifting song, or a montage of his gorgeous heroine looking soulful. Our once cash-strapped heroine, seemingly unfettered by funeral expenses or medical bills, gets back into her designer togs and heads on a journey of self-discovery to Ireland, wherein your average Joe - well, Billy (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) - plays guitar in a pub, works on
a farm and part-times for the coast guard (well, at least he doesn’t play the fiddle).

Ultimately, the whole thing is just incomprehensible. If you’re moving the action from the book’s Dublin to the film’s New York anyway, why not accommodate your leading man and make the whole thing Scottish? The scenery’s just as nice. And why give us two how-they-met scenes when both are largely irrelevant? There’s a decent and very moving film to be had from this subject matter, but it’s a small indie, not this mixed-up attempt at a rom-com.

not bad, but not amazing
Gerard Butler's character is charming, Hilary Swank doesn't really get the chance in this film to show her real acting talent that she has displayed in several other films (e.g Boys Don't Cry) While the subject matter is sad......the plot is fairly predictable and slow moving. Occassional funny moments but overall not a particularly memorable film. (Nevertheless, I do like the part when he sings to her and when its his funeral and he's chosen to have The Pogues playing :) ... More


Posted by WhiteRabbit23 at 18:36, 10 August 2009 \| Report This Post



PS I Love this film
I've just seen this film and i thoroughly loved it. I have already watched several times since. It made me laugh and made me cry. Gerard Butler was sooooo handsome and I loved him so much in it. ... More


Posted by Nutty76 at 19:31, 19 July 2008 \| Report This Post



PS better than I thought
Good movie. Good performances, story, and direction. Funny, touching, and moving. ... More


Posted by lynnshep at 00:36, 03 July 2008 \| Report This Post



Laugher And Tears.
Aw, I loved this movie to bits. I read the book the weekend and saw the movie on Tuesday, sure it dosen't follow the book in every right step but it's a good work on it. New York and Ireland have never been so beautiful to look at, everything was so sweet. There are some laughs though I couldn't stop crying if there was something sad along the way. The perfomances were outstanding, Hillary Swank was brilliant as Holly and Lisa Kudrow was laugh out funny as one of her friends. But the real scene ... More


Posted by joanna likes films at 11:07, 14 May 2008 \| Report This Post



this movie sucked
i love chick flicks. movies like a walk to remember and serendipidy so just trying to prove my credibility. i think it sucked from the beginning. it felt awkward from the star and gerard was just not the right person to play the role. i think johnathan rhys meyers would've been perfect for the role. gerard was awesome in 300 but not this film. i agree wit the reviewer. anyone who like this movie doesn;t have great taste. and by the way, i hate harry connick jr. he should stick to singing. he was... More


Posted by billyk06 at 04:21, 08 May 2008 \| Report This Post



Posdata Te amo
The film is comedy and romance, so we expect mourn and laugh, the romantic scenes Hilary does not seem to be very comfortable with his partner, but when it is together with her friends improving their performance. The sequence in Ireland is very beautiful, the director had to take these scenes. I would like to see a movie where Gerry not die in the first ten minutes. ... More


Posted by latati at 20:46, 05 February 2008 \| Report This Post



RE:
If you stabbed me in the heart with a carving knife, my corpse would still fight tooth & nail against being dragged to see any movie of this type ... More

Posted by Wullie72 at 20:46, 02 February 2008 \| Report This Post




I guess, i enjoyed it because there were scenes in which i could understand where she was coming from and losing someone close does that to you in a way. You try and get over it in many different ways! I read the book and was disappointed by the changes though. I definitely think it's a dvd movie rather than the cinema. ... More


Posted by mk269 at 03:56, 28 January 2008 \| Report This Post



Ps I Love You
I have read & enjoyed the book and for the first 5 minutes of watching the film I thought it was going to be very disappointing but I was pleasantly surprised. Gerard Butlers Irish accent is all wrong but how can you fault him, he played the loveable character very well. When I heard Hilary Swank was playing Holly, I was not sure she could pull off the grieving widow but she did this very well, she certainly pulled at my heart strings! I think if you go to see this film with the anticipat... More


Posted by Buzz02 at 15:18, 16 January 2008 \| Report This Post



RE: P.S. I Love You
Enjoyed this movie immensely. It is a 'chick flick', although I'm quite sure many a fella would find it equally moving. Stand-up performances from all the actors and Gerard Butler... well, what can I say? He can do a 'sexy dance' for me anyday. ... More


Posted by Jessica_ca_ca_ca at 15:57, 15 January 2008 \| Report This Post




It's not often I dissagree with the official Empire rating but fortunately on this occasion I ignored the review of this movie... I was nearly dissuaded from going to see it because of the low rating but as I have an unlimited cinema card I went anyway. If I had stayed in that evening I would have been robbed of enjoying this movie. I wonder whether the reviewer had split with their partner just prior to writing the review as this film has plenty to offer. Fair enough it's not going to pitch ... More


Posted by craig1980 at 14:51, 15 January 2008 \| Report This Post



RE: P.S. It's Crap!
I have very mixed feeling about this film. I was more or less dragged along to see it, and although it made me cry twice I didn't really enjoy it. I loved Gerard Butler, but then he died, and at the same time I could see that he was a totally unrealistic 'perfect man' character. Very weird because I did feel sad that he died and at the same time I was thinking 'oh, come on!' I found Hilary Swank's character and most of her family and friends highly annoying, too. ... More

Posted by kathryn2 at 14:03, 14 January 2008 \| Report This Post



RE: P.S. It's Crap!
I thought this was good but it dragged a bit towards the end. It did more or less what I expected it to but that's about it. ... More


Posted by JV at 22:37, 10 January 2008 \| Report This Post



P.S. It's Crap!
I didnt really want to watch this movie so was expecting this not be good, luckily I wasn't disappointed, the movie lived up to all expectations by being a very poor, slushy romance. Sure its not all bad, Hilary Swank is pretty much perfect in the movie and Lisa Kudrow is a laugh. The movie also has a few emotional sequences, namely when we see Swank on the brink of breakdowns, and that karaoke sequence is pitch perfect. A shame then that the movie seemingly goes on for an eternity and the actua... More


Posted by 02PARSIM at 22:36, 10 January 2008 \| Report This Post



RE: P. S. I Love You
Last time I checked (or could find a FULL definition) of what Empire's rating of Two Stars meant it was "Fair - A Bit Disappointing, but if you Like This Sort Of Thing there is the Odd Good Moment". Well I like this kind of thing. I nearly didn't see it due to the Empire rating of Two Stars but ran out of options. And I have to say there was more than the odd good moment. In fact there was only a couple of moments at the beginning when it seemed a little twee but af... More

Posted by Turtle at 22:22, 10 January 2008 \| Report This Post



RE: PS I Love you.
My wife wanted to see it as she had read the book so i obliged and took her along to the local cinema not really looking forward to it and was pleasently suprised. It was funny and moving without being to cheesy. My wife also loved it and didn't mind any of the changes from the book. 3/5 ... More


Posted by benmharper at 12:12, 07 January 2008 \| Report This Post



RE: PS I Love you.
I'm going to guess that the people above worked on the movie............but saying that, I just saw it after being dragged to see it by my girlfriend (I took her to see the mess that was I Am Legend so fair is fair) and it was NOT the eye gouging, cheese fest I thought it would be. Actually, I rather enjoyed it. Mainly because the opening 15 min scene was just like myself and my girlfriend.....it was eeire. I'll say this about Gerard Butler. He's a bastard. A complete good looking bastard.... More

Posted by Timon at 19:20, 06 January 2008 \| Report This Post

P. S. I Love YouP. P. S. Who thought a rom-com about grief was a good idea?

P. S. I Love You
P. P. S. Who thought a rom-com about grief was a good idea?