[Movies] P.S. I Love You (2007)

Movies of a romantic nature (comedies or otherwise) are not the greatest thing in the world for me, but I do know how to appreciate such pieces as needed from time to time. This has all the more become the reality given my life with my current partner and his rich collection of movies of this nature. I know, it's not a bad thing; it's just different from my usual primary fare of science fiction mainstays.

Let's face it - romance movies are a thriving industry that many people (men and women alike) will cater to whether they actually love the movies themselves or they just use them as a means to get into bed with members of the desired sex (opposite or the fun kind, that is).

This one was a bit more interesting than most, mainly because of the novelty of how the story was carried out. Kudos to the original writers of the book that became the basis for this movie.

P.S. I Love You is the 2007 movie based on the Cecilia Ahem novel of the same name. It starts plainly enough - we as an audience get a glimpse of another night in the life of Holly (Hillary Swank) and Gerry (Gerard Butler) who are pretty much your usual happily married couple. They're not perfect and they have their petty jealousies and other such moments but in the end they just work and you can feel that they love one another. Then we suddenly discover that some time has past and Gerry's dead.

Of course Holly can't quite get over her loss and eventually her 30th birthday rolls along and she's still holed up in her apartment, much to the dismay of her friends and family. As her mother (Kathy Bates) and her friends try to force her out of her funk, a cake arrives with a dedication from her head husband Gerry and a letter explaining this was the first of many letters pre-scheduled for release on her 30th birthday. Thus the movie goes on to follow her various adventures as she tries to follow the instructions in these letters while trying to deal with trying to move past Gerry's death.

Image via Wikipedia

I was initially surprised by the casting of Hillary Swank in the lead role since she's not exactly my idea of a romance movie kind of woman. I guess she's just spent too much of her career in tough, tomboy-ish roles and thus an inevitable typecast has started to form around her. Still, she managed a decent job in the end in portraying the sad widow although I'm definitely not a fan of how she cries on screen. Gerard Butler has already dabbled in such films here and there and has already demonstrated his flexibility in such roles. I guess it just helps a lot that he's pretty charming to begin with and so he really knows how to work over a female audience.

I need not go on overlong about the amazing actress that is Kathy Bates. I'll just note that it's interest how she has evolved over the years to play more of these motherly roles, which she does rather well.

The story as a whole was light, fairly entertaining and overall the kind of nice, warm and fuzzy movie that makes you go "awww..." here and there. It's a pretty good date movie, although any stereotypical guy watching will have to prepare himself for the inevitable comparisons to follow and potential demands from their partners to try to be sweeter or to emulate Gerry more. Yes, Gerry male archetypes are pretty dangerous in these modern times since it really plays to the sensitive male concept.

And personally, I have to admit that I did enjoy it and I don't regret having seen it, so that still says a lot. I'm not sure if I'll go out of my way to see it again - maybe just for Kathy Bates.

P.S. I Love You gets 3.5 letters from Gerry out of a possible 5.