by Tina Christian

Created on: January 09, 2008   Last Updated: February 15, 2010

I'm here for a short yet sweet review of, P.S. I Love You which was based on the novel written by Irish writer Ceclia Ahern. This is a story about a young widow surviving the grieving process through 10 letters her husband leaves her over a year's time beginning on her birthday. Gerard Butler (300) plays Gerry the, (two words, freaking adorable!) passionate dying Irish husband. Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) as Holly does a good job of course (like we'd expect anything less even though I'm normally not a personal fan of hers perse' she was on spot for this character and I'll tell you why later). I have to say I dug Lisa Kudrow's (Friends) character Denise as the "manizing" (is that even a word? No, I just made it up) friend on the hunt for Mr. Right. I was actually surprised that I enjoyed this movie with it's understated humor and lovely mother daughter moments with Kathy Bates (Misery). I fully expected this to be a depressing film because I wasn't sure Swank could pull romantic comedy off, I was wrong.

Now, I should point out I love Harry Connick Jr. in 99% of the stuff he does (even on Will and Grace) but honestly there was no chemistry between Connick's bartender chararacter Daniel and Hilary what-so-ever. He had humorous dialogue but it just wasn't meshing at all between these two. Watching them was like I was watching two disconnected people trying to force something romantic that's never going to happen. So even though Harry's got the hots for her in this story-umm, a mistake I think putting them together. On the other side of the coin Jeffery Dean Morgan (Grey's Anatomy) as William, Holly's brief Irish fling worked well together and had great chemistry though his on screen time is brief. Now, I will say this, Swank's portrayal of how Holly grieves for someone: the mental hell, the physical separation your body feels from lack of connection, and the gut wrenching tornado of emotions you go through when you lose someone you care about is actually the most poignant part of Swank's performance.

Overall the story is a success in leaving behind the idea of appreciating the people you love while they are in your life because you never know what will happen and the moving on with your life if something were to take them from you... I say give it a chance it will grow on you...

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