Review: P.S. I Love You (Grade C)

Everyone's heard of the Rom-Com genre right? Well, "P.S. I Love You" is the latest in the line of what I like to call the Rom-Death-Com genre.

You know the films that have a spouse or parent die in the beginning and then we get to spend the entire film felling the pain of the survivor and in a comedic way? Morbid right?

The film boasts great cache of actors centered around Holly Kennedy (Hilary Swank) as the devoted but slightly neurotic wife (a different role for her) of Gerry Kennedy (Gerard Butler in a VERY different role for him) who dies within the first 10 minutes of the film of a brain tumor. The rest of the film Holly tries to cope with passing of her only true love (only in the movies folks) with the help of her mother Patricia (Kathy Bates being Kathy Bates) and her two best friends Sharon (a tone downed Gina Gershon. Too bad as she's aging very well) and Denise (Lisa Kudrow playing a very irritating variant of her same roles), along the way she finds a possible love interest in a straightforward Daniel (Harry Connick Jr. playing a strange and unlikeable character).

The gimmick in this film is that somehow as he lay dying for a month or so not only did they not reconcile any past issues they may have had but somehow he found the time and energy to create an elaborate scheme to contact Holly with letters and surprise gifts the year following his death without her knowledge. Umm, okay. Not only is that incredibly implausible but it's downright creepy.

The film starts with your standard New York City shots accompanied by Rom-Com music but then leads us straight into a fight Holly and Gerry are having about some random comment about children to her mother. Not only is this fight cringe worthy but it becomes apparent very quickly how wrong they are for each other. She's the uptight know-it-all who can't hold a job because she thinks she's better than everybody but just wants things to be perfect before they have kids, and he's a happy go-lucky stereotypical singing Irishman who just wants to have fun. A match made in Rom-Com heaven right? I wondered why they actually loved each other as there was absolutely no spark or chemistry between them. In fact, their whole argument seemed like a rejected "Odd Couple" script with Holly as Felix and Gerry as Oscar. Only Tony Randall and Jack Klugman actually HAD chemistry.

Anyway, cut to the funeral at her mom's bar (what?) and we see the typical Irish priest blabbering and shot glasses of liquor on Gerry's cremated ashes box. Later on, the sleazy Denise (Kudrow) is cruising the wake for single guys and the even sleazier Daniel (Connick) tries to pick up Holly at her dead husband's wake. Seriously, this is no joke. I couldn't make this shit up. Did I mention this all happens in the first twenty minutes of the film?? Moving on, she goes into hibernation in her luxurious Manhattan apartment, (yeah right, one of the things they fought about was that they had no money) she passes the time singing along to old films (another Rom-Com cliche) not answering the phone or taking a shower until her birthday when the first message from dead Gerry appears. Her mom and her friends are there when Gerry sends her a cake with a tape recorder saying to expect many more messages over the next year. Um, creepy right? He tells her in his happy go lucky voice (he made this when he was dying right?) to move on as he starts assigning her tasks and proves on the tape that he knows her so well. If that's true why were they always fighting?? Oh well, all is right in the Rom-Death-Com.

I won't bore you with rest of the stupid and cliched film so here are the highlights. The tasks he assigns her were the sore points of their marriage like the time they went karaokeing and she got injured after he forced her to perform, um, that's pointless. And the reveal that not only did her not like him but his parents didn't like her. So what happens? He sends her and her two friends to an all expenses paid trip to Ireland to sort out any issues with his parents. So much for them not having any money right? So how does she repay him? She sleeps with a local Irish guy that reminds her of Gerry who in typical Rom-Com style, happens to be Gerry's best friend from his childhood. Again, creepy. Did I mention that Holly suddenly and inexplicably becomes a successful shoe designer?? Ultimately after some more cringe worthy moments, Holly comes to terms with Gerry's death and just when you think that her and and the creepy Daniel get together they don't, but Holly is happy anyway. Not to mention their story is told with the other cliche, flashbacks! Yeah, this is a very strange flick.

Writer/Director Richard LaGravenese who gave us other sob stories like the "Horse Whisperer" and "The Bridges of Madison County" knows this territory as all his so-called love stories have characters experiencing a major loss or tragedy. Although this time he goes way too far with I think was supposed to be a story about love and hope but instead turns into a weird and creepy story of love and loss. This guy should be stopped from making any other films and if he does he should be charged with crimes against humanity.

The only reason I give this film a "C" grade and not an "F" is the committed and luminous performance from Hilary Swank. Not only does she play a role that is vastly different from the manly and tough parts she usually does but she manages to parlay those horse-like features she has into an emotionally charged and nuanced yet subtle performance. This is why she is a two-time Oscar winner. Did I mention that she actually looks pretty sexy in this?? You can tell that she is actually relishing playing a girlie role as she exudes sexuality every chance she gets. Problem is that this script is not only morbid but just plain stupid as well. You should only see this film if you are fan of hers as that's the ONLY reason to see it.

This film will be dead on arrival when it hits the theaters and it will be quickly dismissed as irrelevant, creepy and strange fluff. At least I hope so.

Musings Grade: C

-- Janaki Cedanna

All images © 2007 Warner Bros.