Clichéd and sappy, Richard LaGravenese's P.S. I Love You didn't much enhance the careers of its enormously likable leads—Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler—who struggle valiantly to lift this three-handkerchief weepie above the mundane. Swank plays Holly Kennedy, the somewhat gawky wife of Butler's impetuous Irishman Gerry, who dies from a brain tumor shortly before Holly's 30th birthday. Knowing that his death will devastate her (and apparently having plenty of time to make elaborate plans), Gerry leaves behind a string of notes designed to help his widow cope with her loss, and as a result of these posthumous urgings, Holly heads to Ireland on a life-affirming trip. It's unlikely that any actors could have elevated such hackneyed material, but Swank deserves credit for trying to make her character appealing, even when the script turns Holly into a sulky drip, and Butler, seen mostly in flashbacks, is a decent hunk. Not faring quite as well are Lisa Kudrow and Gina Gershon, the former as a self-absorbed shrew and the latter as Holly's more sympathetic friend. Even by Hollywood rom-com standards, this is not particularly effective. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD extras include 13 minutes of additional scenes, an eight-minute “Conversation” with novelist Cecelia Ahern, “The Name of the Game is Snaps” game tutorial (5 min.), the music video “Same Mistake” by James Blunt, and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a disappointing film.] (E. Hulse)
P.S. I Love You
Warner, 126 min., PG-13, DVD: $28.99, Blu-ray: $35.99, May 6 Volume 23, Issue 2
P.S. I Love You
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