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P.S. I Love You (film)

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P.S. I Love You
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRichard LaGravenese
Screenplay by
Based onPS, I Love You
by Cecelia Ahern
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyTerry Stacey
Edited byDavid Moritz
Music byJohn Powell
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • December 21, 2007 (2007-12-21) (United States)
Running time
125 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[2]
Box office$156.8 million[2]

P.S. I Love You is a 2007 American romantic comedy film directed by Richard LaGravenese from a screenplay by LaGravenese and Steven Rogers. It is based on the 2004 novel of the same name by Cecelia Ahern. The film stars Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Lisa Kudrow, Gina Gershon, James Marsters, Harry Connick Jr. and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

The film was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 21, 2007. It received generally negative reviews from critics, with criticism being directed at Swank's casting and the writing. It was a box office success, and grossed $156.8 million worldwide against a $30 million budget.

Plot

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Holly and Gerry are a married couple living in Manhattan; they fight occasionally but are deeply in love. One winter, Gerry dies of a brain tumor, causing Holly to withdraw from her family and friends out of grief.

On Holly's 30th birthday, a cake is delivered along with a cassette that holds a recording from Gerry— the first of several meaningful messages all ending "P.S. I Love You", which he had arranged to have delivered to her after his death. Holly's mom, Patricia, who never warmed to the idea of her marrying Gerry when she was nineteen, is not pleased, worried that it will keep Holly tied to the past.

As each season passes, Gerry's messages fill Holly with encouragement to continue living. Having organized for Holly and her two best friends, Denise and Sharon, to travel to his homeland of Ireland, they arrive at a beautiful house in the Irish countryside and find a letter addressed to each of them; one asks Denise to take Holly to his favorite pub. While there, Holly meets William, a singer who strongly reminds her of Gerry. He dedicates a song to her ("Galway Girl"); upon hearing it, she is overcome with emotion and walks out, realizing it was the song Gerry sang to her when they first met.

While out fishing on the lake, the women lose their boat's oars, leaving them stranded. As they wait for help, Sharon announces that she is pregnant and Denise reveals she is getting married. Their news causes Holly to relapse emotionally and begin to withdraw into herself again. They are eventually rescued by William, whom Sharon and Denise invite to stay the night because of the rain. Unable to deny their feelings for each other, William and Holly have sex. They later have a conversation about Gerry and, when Holly mentions his parents whom she wants to go and visit, William realizes she is the widow of his childhood friend. Holly panics, but William calms her down by telling her stories about his and Gerry's friendship. The next day, Holly visits Gerry's parents and while there, receives another letter, reminding her of how they met.

Arriving home, Holly continues to withdraw from her life, but is later inspired to start designing women's shoes after finding one of Gerry's suspender clips on one of her heels. She enrolls in a design class, and, over time, her newfound confidence allows her to emerge from her solitude and genuinely embrace her friends' happiness. Holly also goes out to dinner with an old friend, Daniel, who reveals he has always had feelings for her. Knowing Holly doesn't return the same feelings, and after she calls him Gerry by mistake, Daniel leaves the restaurant.

While on a walk with her mother, Patricia hands Holly a final letter from Gerry, revealing she was the one whom he had asked to deliver all of the messages; she said she didn't think it was appropriate but also couldn't say no to him. Holly returns home to a voicemail from Daniel. They meet at Yankee Stadium and she asks him to read the letter; in it, Gerry tells her not to turn away from new love. Holly and Daniel share a kiss but then decide they are better staying as friends.

Later, Holly takes her mother on a trip to Ireland. By chance they meet William, and he expresses his wish to see her again.

Cast

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  • Hilary Swank as Holly Kennedy
  • Gerard Butler as Gerry Kennedy, Holly's husband
  • Lisa Kudrow as Denise Hennessey, one of Holly's best friends
  • Harry Connick Jr. as Daniel Connelly, Patricia's employee and Holly's new friend
  • Gina Gershon as Sharon McCarthy, one of Holly's best friends
  • Jeffrey Dean Morgan as William Gallagher, Holly's love interest and Gerry's childhood best friend
  • Kathy Bates as Patricia Reilly, Holly's mother
  • James Marsters as John McCarthy, Sharon's husband and Gerry's best friend
  • Nellie McKay as Ciara Reilly, Holly's sister
  • Dean Winters as Tom, Denise's boyfriend and later fiancé
  • Anne Kent as Rose Kennedy, Gerry's mother
  • Brian McGrath as Martin Kennedy, Gerry's father

Production

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In A Conversation with Cecilia Ahern, a bonus feature on the DVD release of the film, the author of the novel discusses the Americanization of her story — which was set in Ireland — for the screen and her satisfaction with the plot changes which screenwriter and director Richard LaGravenese had to make in order to fit the book into the screen.

The film was shot on locations in New York City and County Wicklow, Ireland.[3] The music scenes that were set in a local Wicklow pub were filmed in Whelan's, a music venue in Dublin.[4] In 2019 Swank expressed interest in adapting the follow-up book into a second film.[5][6]

Soundtrack

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P.S. I Love You
Soundtrack album by
Various Artists
ReleasedDecember 3, 2007[7]
GenrePop
Length56:44
LabelAtlantic

The soundtrack for the film was released on December 4, 2007.[8]

  1. "Love You Till the End" – The Pogues
  2. "Same Mistake" – James Blunt
  3. "More Time" – Needtobreathe
  4. "Carousel" – Laura Izibor
  5. "Fortress" – Hope
  6. "Last Train Home" – Ryan Star
  7. "Rewind" – Paolo Nutini
  8. "My Sweet Song" – Toby Lightman
  9. "No Other Love" – Chuck Prophet
  10. "Everything We Had" – The Academy Is...
  11. "In the Beginning" – The Stills
  12. "If I Ever Leave This World Alive" – Flogging Molly
  13. "P.S. I Love You" – Nellie McKay
  14. "Kisses and Cake" – John Powell
  15. "Trouble" – performed by Greg Dulli and Kerry Brown

The film also includes "Fairytale of New York" performed by The Pogues, "Got Me Like Oh" by Gia Farrell, "No Other Love" by Chuck Prophet, "Mustang Sally" performed by Gerard Butler and "Galway Girl" written and originally released by Steve Earle, performed by Gerard Butler, Nancy Davis, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Camera Obscura's "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken" also plays in the opening credits. None of these songs are included on the official soundtrack.[8] The Japanese version has "Chiisana Inori" by Hideaki Tokunaga as its theme song.[9][10][11][12][13]

All tracks are written by John Powell

P.S. I Love You
No.TitleLength
1."Make Up Kisses"3:00
2."Bette Davis Montage"1:13
3."You Gotta Be Rich"0:52
4."The Cake"1:46
5."The Urn"2:00
6."Puke/ 1st Letter"2:43
7."Holly Gets Fired"0:45
8."Jacket"1:27
9."Travel Agent"4:04
10."To Eire"2:54
11."Reading Letter"0:47
12."William On The Lake"1:23
13."Kitchen Waltz"4:53
14."On The Lake"2:28
15."The Kennedys"1:08
16."Last Tune"0:50
17."Gerry's Fort"1:04
18."The Meeting"4:31
19."The Kiss"1:56
20."Home Again"0:33
21."Enough"0:39
22."Somebody's Gerry"1:43
23."It Was Me"3:35
24."Sis Kiss"2:37
25."P.S. I Love You"1:23
Total length:50:00

Reception

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Critical response

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Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives a score of 25% based on 105 reviews, with an average rating of 4.50/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Hilary Swank is miscast as the romantic lead in this clichéd film about loss and love."[14] At Metacritic the film received a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on reviews from 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[15] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A−" on scale of A to F.[16]

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said the film "looks squeaky clean and utterly straight and very much removed from the shadow worlds in which Ms. Swank has done her best work. Yet as directed by Richard LaGravenese ... it has a curious morbid quality ... [It] won't win any awards; it isn't the sort of work that flatters a critic's taste. It's preposterous in big and small matters ... and there are several cringe-worthy set pieces, some involving Mr. Butler and a guitar. The film is not a beautiful object or a memorable cultural one, and yet it charms, however awkwardly. Ms. Swank's ardent sincerity and naked emotionalism dovetail nicely with Mr. LaGravenese's melodramatic excesses."[17] Stephen Whitty of The Oregonian wrote, "On a week when many people just want a good reason to put down their packages and smile for a couple of hours, P.S. I Love You arrives – signed, sealed and delivered just on time."[18]

David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "This is a movie that will leave you stunned and stupefied from beginning to end, if you don't head for the exits first. The only good things in it are Lisa Kudrow and Swank's wardrobe. The plot is unbelievable, although a competent script could have fixed that. The direction is flabby and uninspired, the casting is wrongheaded, and the performances run the gamut from uninteresting to insufferable ... the film wants terribly to be Ghost without a potter's wheel, but it just succeeds at being terrible."[19] John Anderson of Variety also had a negative review: "The question of love after death has been asked frequently enough in the movies, but seldom with the high ick factor found in P.S. I Love You ... this post-life comedy will have the sentimentally challenged weeping openly, while clutching desperately to the pants-legs of boyfriends and husbands who are trying to flee up the aisle. Richard LaGravenese's trip into Lifetime territory may define the guilty pleasure of the genre ... As an exercise in chick-flickery, P.S. I Love You wants to possess the soulfulness of harsh reality and the lilt of romantic fantasy at the same time. In this case, at least, it simply can't be done."[20]

Irish reviewers were particularly critical of Butler's Irish accent.[21][22] Butler later jokingly apologized for his poor effort at an Irish accent.[23]

Box office

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The film opened on 2,454 screens in North America and earned $6,481,221 and ranked #6 on its opening weekend. It eventually grossed $53,695,808 at the North American box office and $91,370,273 in the rest of the world for a total worldwide box office of $156,835,339.[24][2]

Accolades

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Hilary Swank won the 2008 People's Choice Irish Film and Television Award for Best International Actress.[25]

Cultural influence

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Dialogue between Connick's and Swank's characters inspired Reba McEntire's 2011 single "Somebody's Chelsea".[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hazelton, John (December 14, 2007). "P.S. I Love You". Screen Daily. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "P.S. I Love You (2007) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  3. ^ "P.S. I Love You". Tourism Ireland. 2007. Archived from the original on January 23, 2009. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  4. ^ Mulvaney, Amy (April 10, 2019). "'Many legends have played here. It's a long list': The enduring pull of Whelan's after 30 years in business". TheJournal.ie. People even fly in from Brazil to propose here after seeing PS I Love You. We get questions every day from people asking about it.
  5. ^ "Ahern says Swank will return for PS I Love You sequel". RTÉ.ie. September 19, 2019.
  6. ^ McNary, Dave (February 12, 2020). "Film News Roundup: Hilary Swank's 'P.S. I Love You' Is Getting a Sequel". Variety.
  7. ^ "P.S. I Love You". Amazon. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  8. ^ a b "P.S. I Love You [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] - Original Soundtrack | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  9. ^ sorry.pia.jp http://sorry.pia.jp/nt2/pia/maintenance.html. Retrieved August 5, 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ^ Inc, Natasha. "徳永英明がハリウッド映画に主題歌を書き下ろし". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved August 5, 2024. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  11. ^ "徳永英明、オリジナル曲で完全復活！ハリウッド映画の主題歌を書き下ろす｜シネマトゥデイ". シネマトゥデイ (in Japanese). August 14, 2008. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  12. ^ "徳永英明が珠玉の愛を歌い上げる！ 『P.S.アイラヴユー』主題歌を書き下ろし". cinemacafe.net (in Japanese). August 22, 2008. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  13. ^ "徳永英明、緊張気味に映画舞台あいさつ初体験". ORICON NEWS. October 5, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  14. ^ "P.S. I Love You". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  15. ^ P.S. I Love You at Metacritic Edit this at Wikidata CBS
  16. ^ "P.S. I LOVE YOU (2007) A-". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
  17. ^ Dargis, Manohla (December 21, 2007). "P.P.S. Take Tissues to This Weepy About a Romance Tested by Death". The New York Times.
  18. ^ Whitty, Stephen (December 21, 2007). "P.S. I Love You". The Oregonian. Advance Publications. Archived from the original on January 10, 2008. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  19. ^ Wiegand, David (December 21, 2007). "Review: 'P.S. I Love You' a sappy stinker with star power". San Francisco Chronicle.
  20. ^ Anderson, John (December 13, 2007). "P.S. I Love You". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  21. ^ Ingle, Róisín (December 15, 2007). "Author of her own destiny". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010.
  22. ^ Dwyer, Michael (December 21, 2007). "PS, I love You". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010.
  23. ^ Movies.ie Paul Byrne. Archived from the original on March 19, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2014 – via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  24. ^ P.S. I Love You at Box Office Mojo
  25. ^ "Hilary Swank wins an IFTA". RTE.ie. February 15, 2008.
  26. ^ Dukes, Billy (August 19, 2011). "Reba McEntire, 'Somebody's Chelsea' – Lyrics Uncovered". Taste of Country. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
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