by Linda St.Cyr

Created on: March 15, 2009

The Book Vs. The Movie

Just recently released on DVD is the movie P.S. I love you. Most people who enjoyed the book were anxious to see it come to life on the big screen. Cecelia Ahern's novel was witty, fun, heartrending, sad and charming. It was real life people with real life issues when it comes to dealing with the death of a loved one. The characters in the book take on a life of their own. You feel for Holly, the main character, who is devastated and has to learn to live with her grief. You smile at her little brother, in the novel, who seems to live in lala land, but all he wants to do is make films. Her older brother, who tries to be the smart one of the whole family, makes you feel like you might know him or someone just like him in your family. Holly's flighty little sister in the novel is also comparable to someone you may know in the real world. The novel P.S. I love you was well written and excecuted. It brought out laughs and tears and made you feel real emotion. So how does it compare to the movie release? Not well in this author's opinion.

The movie dismissed characters that were genuinely important to the story. In the film we are missing the father who loves gravy, the little brother who loves films, the older brother with his children and the mother who was a heartwarming individual. What we get instead is the two best friends of Holly played by Hilary Swank. Sharon and Denise who are played by Gina Gershon and Lisa Kudrow respectively. They play the best friend role rather well, but some things are just off when compared to the novel. The husband of Sharon is supposed to be Gerry's (Gerard Butler) best friend. You don't feel that so much in the film. You also don't get the poignant breakdown when John (James Marsters) breaks down and yells at Holly, because this just does not happen in the film.

A new family dynamic is created in the film where Holly's mother becomes a single mother who raised two children on here own after the father leaves. Cathy Bates plays Holly's mother in the film and she was excellent in the role cast; however, the whole script of the novel was changed! In this author's opinion, changing the family dynamic this drastically changes the whole attitude of the film. Holly's mother who lovingly raised four children in the novel becomes a bitter single mom of two children. Holly does not get the chance in this movie to help her brother along, or her sister when they go through rocky periods of their own world's shattering.

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