P.S. I LOVE YOU

Reviewed for CompuServe by Harvey S. Karten
Warner Bros
Grade: C+
Directed by: Richard LaGravanese
Written By: Richard LaGravenese, Steven Rogers, from Cecilia Ahern’s novel
Cast: Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Gina Gershon, James Marsters, Lisa Kudrod, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Harry Connick Jr., Kathy Bates
Screened at: Warner, NYC, 12/5/07
Opens: December 21, 2007

Cecilia Ahern, the daughter of Ireland’s Prime Minister when she wrote the novel “P.S. I Love You” in 2004 at the age of 21, seems to have lived far longer than her tender years, given her understanding of life’s tragedies. Her book became a best-seller, a sought-out debut novel which garnered quite good reviews on our side of the ocean as well, a 5-hanky special, but either something got lost in translation to the screen or the movie has such big letters “chick-flick” written all over it that maybe only women should be reviewing. Yes, it’s a weepie, but that’s not the problem. A good cry is fine, though there’s not really much to cry about from the male side of the audience. The flaw with this film is that the women who are supposed to be best friends turning thirty (Gina Gershon is 45 and Lisa Kudrow is 44 but who’s counting?) act like teen-agers, ogling anything in pants. Ms. Kudrow’s character’s excuse is that as a feminist she has the right to look at men’s rear ends rather than admiring their brains since that’s how guys treated her all her life.

Richard LaGravanese’s movie never rises above the level of a TV sitcom. LaGravanese even finds a niche for those in the audience of a certain age by hinting that a character played by 59-year-old Kathy Bates is about to have a fling. “P.S. I Love You” sets up a dying man as so saintly that he secretly creates an epistolary project to get his wife over his pending death as quickly as possible. Afflicted with a brain tumor and knowing he has perhaps weeks or days left at the age of thirty, Gerry Kennedy (Gerard Butler) plans to having distributed one letter each month to Holly (Hilary Swank), soon to be his widow, assigning fun projects to her, some as simple as getting a new outfit, others getting more complex such as singing in a karaoke club and making a trip to Ireland with her two best pals, Denise (Lisa Kudrow) and Sharon (Gina Gershon). While Holly is dubious, grieving and lonely despite the romantic attentions of a goofy male friend, Daniel (Harry Connick Jr.) and a mom, Elizabeth (Kathy Bates) who thinks a trip across the sea is too much fun to undertake too soon, she’s soon on her way, taking part in the rigors as though they were among the twelve tasks of Hercules. Despite her luck with one particular fellow in rural Ireland, a manly singer, William (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), she becomes envious when her two friends advance in their social lives, apparently leaving her behind.

Folks in the audience who are unfamiliar with the rituals of an Irish wake might be amused at how the priest goes along with the off-color words of the departed’s favored song, and how each member of the family attending the wake would step up to toss back a shot. The contrast between the crowded conditions of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood standing in for Manhattan’s Lower East Side and the rural greenery of Ireland makes for worthy viewing as does the lusty singing and high spirits of the pub in Ireland where social gatherings are a welcome alternative to sitting quietly in a movie theater watching a repetitious weepie.

Rated PG-13. 121 minutes © 2007 by Harvey Karten Member: NY Film Critics Online