PS I Love You

PS I Love You has a pattern so repetitive and clichéd that they could have just looped the first 20 minutes over and over, tacked on the ending, and voila, there wouldn’t be much difference. Hilary Swank receives letter from dead husband. Hilary Swank does crazy or funny thing. Hilary Swank laughs, but then realizes some cryptic clue reminds her of dead husband. She cries, has flashback, then goes to a bar or hangs out with girlfriends. Rinse, and repeat.

The director, Richard LaGravenese, has much talent, as evidenced in last year’s Freedom Writers, and even some scenes here. But even though he has an original and engaging premise, he simply doesn’t have anything original or engaging to make about it.

The first 20 minutes are funny, witty, and promise a good movie. They show hilarious chemistry between Hilary Swank and leading man Gerard Butler, a great round of dialogue, and then switch to the only scene in the movie that erects emotion. Sadness.

The movie is about a young, middle-class couple, played by Gerard Butler and Hilary Swank. They show a flurry of emotions in the first five minutes; one minute they’re arguing about having children, the next jumping into each other’s arms. But then Gerard suddenly dies, leaving Hilary Swank heartbroken. But somehow, days before his death, Gerard organized a series of letters and tapes to send to Hilary posthumously. So Hilary goes along with it, but her friends and family worry if she’s bordering on obsession…Is she?

Sound original and fresh for a romantic comedy? Well, yeah, but it’s a romantic drama. It has few laughs, with the exception of Harry Connick, Jr. as a fast-mouthed slacker. Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, and Harry Connick, Jr. own this movie with their performances, but unfortunately, there’s not much to own.

PS: C-