P.S. I Love You

Yesterday I finally went to see a movie! The last movie I saw was The Golden Compass over Christmas break and before that I don't remember the last time I saw something in the theaters. Lately I've been avoiding the movie theater because there are so many movies I want to see and I couldn't make up my mind. I was worried that I would pick something that didn't end up being too good and I didn't want to waste my money.

Well, as luck would have it, I saw a not so great movie, P.S. I Love You. However, I think a lot of my cynicism on the movie is based on the fact that I recently read the book. As often happens, the movie was nearly as good as the book and all of my favorite parts were either left out or changed.

The book P.S. I Love You was written by Cecilia Ahern at a relatively young age (21 years old I believe). As is many times the case, age did not matter much in the overall maturity and talent in this book. The setting is Ireland and the main trope is a woman dealing with the loss of her husband to brain cancer. Her husband left her with a "plan" of things to do each month to help her move on. Simple story but the true beauty was in the humor.

Unfortunately the movie seemed to drop all of the original humor and make up new story lines or change character details in a way that completely voided the remaining humor. I will concede that Gerard Butler did a fantastic job playing the always humorous, easy-going Gerry, the deceased husband. The casting of Hilary Swank as Holly was not as perfect. Maybe she was perfect for the uptight Holly in the rewritten story but she was not in the spirit of the book.

After reading the book I knew it was not likely that the movie could be anywhere close to heart-wrenching and hilarious as the book. There were "too many" characters for a two hour movie and way too many intricate details about their lives. One of the big losses, I felt, was in the story of Holly's (the protagonist) story. In the book, she has 3 brothers and a sister with both parents living in the same town in the house she grew up in. They're family dinners were something to both enjoy because of the family humor and dread because of the tension created by a diverse set of siblings. In the movie, Holly had only one sister and was abandoned by her father at the age of 14. Her mother was still bitter about this desertion and did not approve of Holly's amazing husband, Gerry. I was shocked at this huge alteration. Instead of the movie being a joyous celebration of life after the death of a loved one and the process of moving on, it became a drama about a woman who has been "abandoned" two times, once by her father and then by her husband dying at a young age. I'm sure I could write a whole other post about our culture's reluctance to show an actual happy family not broken by divorce or death. I'd like to believe it still exists!

The other major alteration that disturbed me was the addition of an Irish singer, William, who Holly and her friends meet on a trip to Ireland (planned by Gerry). Yes, Ireland, the original setting of the book which was discarded in favor of a trendy look at life in New York. In any case, William is found nowhere in the book. In the movie, however, it was necessary to add some sex, otherwise it would not qualify as a modern romantic drama (note the sarcasm and cynicism in this observation). Part of moving on, according to the movie, is having meaningless sex with a stranger in a foreign country mere months after the death of the love of your life. Talk about mixed messages! I am a lover of romantic comedies and I would have been just fine without this additional character! The time wasted on this relationship could have been better spent by including the exploits involved in Holly finding an administrative job she actually enjoys (in the movie she becomes a famous shoe designer) or looking at the intricate, real relationships in her family (before it was taken to the chopping block).

To sum up, there is something wrong with how Hollywood sees the genre of romantic comedies. I would rather watch a predictable romantic comedy with great characters and dialogue like Ever After or Sleepless in Seattle than watch what Hollywood deems appropriate in realism and contemporary values. Some changes need to be made in Chick Flicks before I waste my money on another one. I can't remember the last time a true romantic comedy was made that was just fun and sweet instead of melodramatic and raunchy. The closest I can think of is Waitress which is too much of an amazing FILM to be classified in the non-artsy category of romantic comedy.

So if you are looking for a movie to see this weekend, skip P.S. I Love You and try something a little more classy. Or better yet, go read a book, perhaps even P.S. I Love You.