I am, being a male, rather skeptical about "weepies" such as The Notebook and P.S. I Love You, because they're so often manipulative and tear-jerking without EARNING it; they just play some violin music and have a kid come in that's upset or something like that, without making us feel for the CHARACTERS. Sadly, P.S. I Love You is another casualty in the overly manipulative, painfully sentimental weepy genre, despite a good cast.

The story revolves around Holly (Hilary Swank) and Gerry (Gerard Butler), who live a carefree life in New York, when suddenly, Gerry dies of a massive brain tumour. Her life obviously falls apart, and some time later, on her 30th birthday, her friends rally around to try and sort her life out, when a cake is delivered at the wish of her dead husband, which is the first of many messages from Gerry that he had arranged before his death to be delivered in the event of his death, to try and help her get on with her life and not be scared of falling in love again.

The real kicker is just how creepy I find this idea: I can't think of anyone who would want to be posthumously haunted by creepy pre-arranged notes from their significant other. As something romantic, I think it's a failure, and would realistically only add to a woman's distress. Of course, though, the film revels in just how clever and charming it is, when in fact it is neither, and the premise just becomes quite risible at times. Swank is admirable in a role that plays against-type, but with a dodgy script and even dodgier premise, there's not much to like here unless you're a sucker for overly-sentimental dramedies.