Often I find the novel better than the film, but in the case of the film PS I Love You, I like the movie better. I bogged down while reading the story, but found myself resenting intrusions while watching the film this afternoon. For a phone that seldom rings, mine rang off the hook during the 2 hours I decided to watch a video. I hadn't intended to rent this movie, but the nice lady at the local video store recommended it -- and provided the bag of microwave popcorn free.
Hillary Swank is not a particularly attractive woman, being thin to the point of emaciation and somewhat "horse faced," with a long, thin face and large, large teeth. Her fake crying is patently phony, and the Irish lad who plays her husband is too old to play the part of the suddenly love struck young male lead, but I still liked the movie. The story weaves past and present, which can be off-putting, but it makes sense that to tell about today, the viewer has to know about yesterday. I even watched some of the deleted scenes and am glad that they were cut from the film as they did nothing to tell the story better than it was told in the final cut.
I like the ending best, when the mother, who was abandoned by her husband when her daughter was 12 years old, shares what it's like to be inexplicably dumped by a man who used to make her laugh. There's a lot of that going around, and it's not easy to understand why one walks away and the other has to find a way to muddle through the aftermath. Kathy Bates, the actress playing the role of the mother, helps it to make sense for her daughter, whose husband dies at age 35, instead of living happily into old age together with his wife, who celebrates her 30th birthday after his death.
Sure, it's a chick flick, but I think that men can learn about women from watching female films. There is a scene where Harry Connick asks Hillary Swank for the secret of knowing what women want, and Swank responds with, "they have no idea." It's so true, but we spend a whole lot of time thinking about what we want, how we are going to get it, and what we'll do with it once we have it -- and sometimes that is time we should spend enjoying what we have, rather than waiting for what we think we'd rather have.
I'm probably going to watch this one again as it's not due back until midnight Saturday.
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I'm glad I didn't read the book, in that case. I had mixed feelings for this movie. There were parts that had me in tears, and others I was bored out of my mind. I found that an odd mix.
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