The real interesting mystery that can be framed around P.S. I Love You does not concern the movie itself—it’s much too bland and uninspired for that—but its intended audience. Sure, I can understand who might go to see the film; after all, how could a giggling teenage girl or an overly-sentimental middle-aged woman refuse what has been marketed as the most romantic and teary-eyed chick-flick of the season? But when I try to figure out who might like the movie, I am left befuddled. P.S. I Love You is hardly the sweet, welcome tearjerker that it has been marketed as. In actuality, the movie represents a stunningly artificial concoction; every character present exists as a one-note (and often, it would appear, mentally-insane) caricature. Filmgoers who like feeling the warmth of romance in movies will find themselves betrayed by P.S. I Love You’s very cutesy cartoonishness. Those who merely like to escape from reality with romantic-comedies will be equally-disappointed because, heck, even the most imaginative of us need to find some fragment of actual life to latch onto in a movie to escape from the real thing. And yet, still, despite its utter lack of likableness, P.S. I Love You is retaining the smallest percentage-drops at the Box-Office each weekend of this Holiday Season. Color me surprised and (to a lesser extent) feeling bad for those who shell out $10 to see it.

     Okay, it’s true that I am coming down a bit harshly on P.S. I Love You. After all, the movie’s intentions are far too lightweight for it to become a painful cinematic experience. (It should be noted, however, that results may vary depending on whether or not you have a penis.) But isn’t a movie that is entirely mediocre, offering nothing truly fresh to the viewer, just as unworthy as a completely awful one? I think so, and P.S. I Love You would perfectly fit this description if it weren’t for a single asset: Hilary Swank. In the lead role—flatly as the part may be envisioned by director Richard LaGravenese (who also worked with Swank on the teacher-drama Freedom Writers) and his co-writer Steven Rogers—the seasoned actress works wonders for the entire project. She is effortless, affable, cute, and charming in the film, almost nailing the very balance of comedy and drama that nearly destroys the movie because of utter implausibility. If it weren’t for Swank, I would likely be ripping P.S. I Love You to shreds in this review. No other member of the cast—from the manic Lisa Kudrow to the out-of-place Kathy Bates to the totally-ludicrous Gerard Butler—is able to come close to capturing the essence of what she does. Accordingly, the film fails to thrive, existing only as yet another insipid and entirely disposable invention of the Hollywood Studio Machine.

-Danny Baldwin, Bucket Reviews

Review Published on: 1.11.2008

Screened on: 1.5.2007 at the Edwards San Marcos 18 in San Marcos, CA.