Gerard Butler and Hillary Swank
in
P.S. I Love You
Scotsman Gerard Butler came to the forefront in Hollywood with Phantom of the Opera, starred in Shattered (among others), and picked up speed in 300. Anyone who has seen him on Letterman or Craig Ferguson knows he is a true, all-or-nothing, high adventure, charming and seductive Scot. It was said that his newest movie shows the true Gerry. If so, it must have been a lot of fun on the set of P.S. I Love You. Can you tell I'm a Gerard Butler fan?
I'm actually a new fan who was less than impressed with some parts of his rendition of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. It wasn't the voice that bothered me. It was the fact that some of it was out of his range -- the fault of the producer/director, not the actor. He tried, and otherwise it was pleasant and the acting of it was beautiful.
He also sings, this time with acoustic guitar (my favorite way to listen to a nice voice), in his newest film. I was actually quite impressed. I tend to be a music snob. I like many genres but they have to have true music quality, not only cute faces or pounding beats. I would love to have the full versions of Gerry singing the songs he did bits of in the movie. Very nice. Very smooth. Very sensual. Alas, they are not included on the soundtrack, so I will not be picking that one up.
As for the movie, it was nicely done, filmed both in the States and in Ireland, featuring the Emerald Isle's incredible scenery. With most films, I can guess the ending within the first ten minutes. I didn't with this one. I like that about it. I like the true-to-life emotions that weren't overdone or underdone. I like the points made about life and love and loss and moving forward. I loved the fun playfulness of Gerard's character and the way he portrayed it. I liked the bits of Irish customs that were real, not characterized or cliched. And I liked the music.
I write literary romance and that's how I would describe this movie. It's romance, yes, but it has such a nice story and realistic, likeable characters who matter to the audience. It has culture, psychology, relationship issues of different kinds, and a suitable (not sappy) ending. This is a romance at its best.
The only thing I didn't quite understand is what Hillary's character was living on financially. It makes a point of showing how tight money is, but she doesn't seem at all constricted once she's on her own. That point threw it off just a bit for me, as I'm a realist type, but it wasn't a big issue.
All of the actors did a nice job. Hillary Swank portrayed a confused artistic-type wife trying to fit into society's expectations and the world of 9-to5 jobs quite well (which is hard for business types to truly understand), and Lisa Kudrow is always enjoyable, but Gerard Butler made the film worth buying. I will be buying it as soon as it's available.
2 comments:
"The only thing I didn't quite understand is what Hillary's character was living on financially."
Hi! Enjoyed reading your blog -(and I loved the movie) I wanted to answer this question.
Gerry's Limo business - would be how she had money - his share of the business would be hers. At the start of the movie -Holly's mother asked for Gerry's drivers to close the curtains. So we know his business was a success. And even though Holly had money to live on -the limo business was not a fulfilling "career" choice for Holly. She needed to find that for herself.
Ah, thank you for the insight! I missed the bit about what he did exactly. When I buy the movie, I'll have to pay more attention to the details. ;-)
Post a Comment