I was not a happy bunny going along to this as movies based on Chick Lit Novels are not my thing, the reviews were not encouraging and the other half was enthusiastic about going – in short everything I potentially dislike about a movie. However I persevered not just from the fear of retribution from She who Must be Obeyed but also over a certain curiosity. For one thing it is based on the best-selling novel by Cecelia Ahern, daughter of the Irish Prime Minister (as at January 2008!) Bertie Ahern, some of the scenes are set in County Wicklow, my favourite part of Ireland and I know people associated with the production.
Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow
I hadn’t read the novel (what a way for a man to lose credibility on the train!) as I have a policy of not looking for a book in a movie and visa versa, it is always an annoying and unfulfilling quest. However it was not an unenjoyable outing and I was left with a certain admiration for Cecelia Ahern’s craftsmanship because the novel contains 10 “sucker punches”. Now in writing it is difficult to incorporate one sucker punch so this sucker punch ratio must command a certain respect even if it makes for a somewhat contrived plot and encourages over acting from the cast.
The plot briefly is: A young widow discovers that her late husband has left her 10 messages intended to help ease her pain and start a new life. The film begins with an argument as supposedly happily married couple Holly (Hilary Swank) and Gerry (Gerard Butler) bicker over finances and the right time to start a family. It then jumps forward to a time just after Gerry has died from a brain tumour and Holly is grieving inconsolably despite the best efforts of her friends (Lisa Kudrow and Gina Gershon) and mother (Kathy Bates) to provide support. She is, however, slowly encouraged to move on when the series of letters that Gerry wrote for her before his death start to arrive that are designed to help awaken her to new possibilities.
P.S. I Love You, features the talents of two-time Oscar winning actress Hilary Swank and with an impressive supporting cast of Kathy Bates, Harry Connick Jr., Lisa Kudrow and Gina Gershon some money has obviously been spent by the producers. The opening scenes are rife with some cringe worthy scenes – whether it’s the argument that opens the movie, Butler’s awful attempt at an Irish accent or Harry Connick Jr’s response to the discovery of what caused Gerry’s death (“brain tumour...”, “nice!”).
Cecelia Ahern
The love letter device becomes annoying after a while but perversely draws you in and keeps you in anticipation of the next “sucker punch”. A trip to Ireland midway through seems designed to increase the kerb appeal in the American market and delivers a plot contrivance (involving Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s guitar player) that’s just plain irritating no matter which way you look at it. However I mellowed when I recognised the locations. The lodge is on the Earl of Meath’s estate at Kilruddery off the Kilmacanogue road under the Little Sugar Loaf Mountain and the farmhouse is at Coona in the Glencree Valley four miles from Enniskerry for you movie location buffs! Indeed I laughed when I saw that Gerry’s New York business was called “Enniskerry Limousines” as there is a hallowed tradition of Irish in America calling their business’s after their home towns, no doubt a way of getting business from the Irish American “Murphia”.
Overall the movie is redeemed by the engaging characterisation by the top quality cast which, for all its contrivances, does draw you in and renders the tale believable. For a story about a person who dies from a brain tumour it does end up being life affirming with many flashes of humour and some insights. Hilary Swank does her best to endear us to Holly and shares some good scenes with Kathy Bates and Harry Connick Jr but if you treat this as a pleasant and entertaining interlude with good characters and some insights you won’t go far wrong. Hilary Swank is not going to add to her haul of Oscars from this movie but along with the rest of the cast she is playing outside of her normal range and that on its own makes for interesting viewing. So despite my initial foreboding I came away feeling that I had spent worse nights at the movies and with a grudging respect for Cecelia Ahern’s achievement on her first outing as a novelist. Worth going to see to make up your own mind!
Little Sugarloaf mountain, Co. Wicklow
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