The Review - AT THE MOVIES with WILLIAM HALL Published: 3 January 2008
A bereaved Holly (Hilary Swank) moves on
A postscript from beyond the grave
PS. I LOVE YOU
Directed by Richard LaGravenese
Certificate 12a
NOBODY does smiles and tears better than Hilary Swank, and this one gives her the chance to fire on all cylinders.
She plays Holly, beautiful, smart and very much “today’s woman” – but her career means nothing compared to the love of her life, her husband Gerry (Gerard Butler).
Their affair began on a chance meeting in Ireland where she was on holiday, and blossomed into fulfilment after she fell for the passionate Irishman.
But their idyllic marriage is cut short after seven years when Gerry dies of a brain tumour.
Now the grieving young widow feels she has nothing to live for… until the letters arrive.
Ten of them in all, each written by Gerry before his death, and delivered once a month, ending with the words: “P.S. I love you.”
Holly’s mother (Kathy Bates) and best friends (Gina Gershon, Lisa Kudrow) worry that they might keep her chained to the past.
One letter orders her to sing in a karaoke night. Another to return to the country road in Ireland where the pair actually met. In fact they free her for a fresh future.
It all sounds a bit sickly and schmaltzy, but the result is a genuine weepie.
Take the tissues. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.