P.S. I Love You

February 15, 2008

P.S. I Love You is a 2007 film directed by Richard LaGravenese and starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler. It is based on the novel by Cecelia Ahern.

Plot

Irishman Gerry Kennedy (Gerard Butler) and Holly (Hilary Swank), are a happily married couple living in Manhattan. Except Holly wants a larger apartment for when they decide to have a baby. Gerry wants a baby now, and after they fight one night about this, they make up and Gerry makes her laugh.

Gerry dies of a brain tumor, and Holly is devastated. The grieving young widow and her friends begin to periodically receive letters written by Gerry while he was alive, each containing a task for Holly to complete, intended to ease her out of her grief and transition her into a new life.

One ?task? is for Holly and her two friends to go on holiday in Ireland, where the couple first met. On this trip, she hooks up with a singer from a local pub who ends up being one of Gerry?s old friends.While she is in Ireland she visits Gerry?s parents and visits the spot where the couple first met, and in the process, finds out that she can move on and live life.

At the end of the film it is revealed to Holly and the viewer that when Gerry knew he was going to die he wrote the letters and gave them to Holly?s mother, and that he made her promise to send them one by one to Holly.

Differences between the film and book

There are significant differences between the book and the film. In the book, both Gerry and Holly are Irish and live in Ireland, and instead of going to Ireland, Holly and her friends go on a holiday to Lanzarote, none of the book is even set anywhere in America. Holly?s maiden name is Kennedy, which she chooses to keep once married. Gerry?s surname is not mentioned. William does not appear in the book. In the book, Holly has a father who is happily married to her mother. As well as a sister, Holly has three brothers. Her sister also has a bigger role in the book.

A package with the ten letters was given to Holly at the beginning of the book by her mother, along with a message from Gerry that she was only allowed to open one each month. Daniel does not read any of the letters. The dream job Holly ends up with in the film is designing shoes- in the book she becomes Advertising Director of a magazine. John and Sharon?s baby is named after Gerry in the book, and Holly is made godmother. Holly is Denise?s Maid of Honor in the book.

Gerry and Holly in the movie meet when Holly visits Europe for school. In the book they meet in High School and have been together ever since.

Cast

• Hilary Swank as Holly Reilly Kennedy
• Gerard Butler as Gerry Kennedy
• Lisa Kudrow as Denise Hennessey
• Gina Gershon as Sharon McCarthy
• James Marsters as John McCarthy
• Kathy Bates as Patricia Reilly
• Harry Connick Jr. as Daniel Connelly
• Nellie McKay as Ciara Reilly
• Jeffrey Dean Morgan as William ?Billy? Gallagher
• Dean Winters: Tom
• Anne Kent: Rose Kennedy
• Brian McGrath: Martin Kennedy
• Sherie Rene Scott: Barbara

Critical Reception and Box Office Performance

Critics gave the film negative reviews, but theater-goers seemed to love it. In Ireland, where the film was marginally better received, Gerard Butler was widely criticized for his poor affectation of an Irish accent. As of January 19, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 21% of critics gave the film positive reviews, classifying it as ?rotten?, based on 86 reviews, it also has an 8% ?rotten? rating from the Cream Of The Crop critics on their site. However the film also has a 76% ?fresh? rating from users on the site. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 42 out of 100, based on 15 reviews.

As of January 22, 2008 the film has made $51,023,293 domestically and $31,304,875 overseas for a total of $82,328,168 worldwide.

Ratings :

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Posted in Movie Review