P.S. (2004)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Dylan Kidd

Writers:

Helen Schulman (novel)
Helen Schulman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 April 2005 (Greece)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy | Romance | Fantasy

Tagline:

What would you do for a second chance?

Plot:

A romantic story about a late 30's divorced woman who gets to live her fairy tale when she is reunited with a high school sweetheart who had died previously and reincarnated in a mid 20's year old cutie.

Plot Keywords:

Best Friend | Columbia University | Art | Artist | College

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Laura Linney	...	Louise Harrington
Gabriel Byrne	...	Peter Harrington
Lois Smith	...	Ellie Silverstein
Paul Rudd	...	Sammy Silverstein
Topher Grace	...	F. Scott Feinstadt
Jennifer Carta	...	Work-Study
Becki Newton	...	Rebecca
Chris Meyer	...	Ricky
Daniel C. Levine	...	Desk Clerk
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Missy Goldberg

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sexuality.

Runtime:

97 min | Canada:100 min (Ontario)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Singapore:M18 | UK:15 | Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Malaysia:(Banned) | Germany:12 | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:AL | USA:R (certificate #40985) | Canada:14A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Columbia University - Broadway & 116th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Hart-Sharp Entertainment

Quotes:

Missy Goldberg: You can't tell somebody they're dead. They'll go into shock.

Soundtrack:

Dreaming

Flawed in its brilliance, a must see

Spoiler Alert

When I read on the internet that the Dylan Kidd directed fable "p.s." wasn't entirely true to the Helen Schulman novel of the same name I wasn't pleased. Not just because we didn't get "our" F. Scott wrapped in a towel. (or aka page 76). Please, I'm not that shallow. "p.s." to me is a coming of age film not just for the thirty something Louise Harrington ("Love Actually", "Kinsey") but also the young and hip F. Scott Feinstadt (played winningly by Topher Grace). Dylan Kidd should be commended here. Even when scenes from the book were changed. Such as: Louise and F. Scott's conversation towards the end of the film. In the novel, he cut his foot and if I'm not mistaken it was daytime. In the movie there is no cut and it's night. And the Chinatown date was omitted for an ordinary local sports bar setting. Marcia Gay Harden ("Mystic River", "Mona Lisa Smile") is absolutely delicious as Missy. I like how in the beginning you only hear Missy's voice during mostly self-serving telephone conversations to her supposed best friend since high school Louise. It is clear that Louise is half oblivious and jealous of Missy-who has good hair days and despite being married with kids wants to screw anything with a dick. Topher Grace is fabulous as F. Scott Feinstadt,the man with the eerily similar name, the face, and the artist persona. He shows all the sides of F. Scott (despite having several of pages of the novels dialog deleted!) from his humorous phone call with Louise-who sets up the mock interview because she wants to see this F. Scott face to face. From the stained and holed artists "uniform". To his amazement of his first time with Louise. Which has to be the most graphic non-graphic sex scene ever put on film. It was almost uncomfortable watching on the second theater viewing. (and I'm certainly no prude.) His hurt and confusion over the first Scott and Louise's ex- husband Peter (the former who died in a tragic car accident). He broke up with Louise in high school and dated Missy before he died. So, Louise settles for a ten-year marriage with her older college professor. To his lashing out of the ex when he thinks F. Scott is someone to call the cops over. If "Traffic" proved that Topher is more than Eric Forman on FOX' "That '70s Show", then "p.s." proves he can handle a movie on his own. And although in interviews an admission about preferring ensemble pieces can be found. Make no mistake, if Topher Grace gets to headline a movie you will be in for a treat. What was blah in Schulman's novel, but is great in the film and might go overlooked outside of his regular fan base is Paul Rudd who is great as Louise's out of rehab brother and keeper of Peter's secrets, Sammy. Louise shouldn't have been less jealous of the pies and things their mom (Lois Smith) bakes for him. Her mother loves them both. And I agree with Sammy's quote: The universe doesn't care. Louise like in the novel shines when she gets to be assertive and is at her worst when she's an insecure, jealous mess. There's a little of that Louise insecurity in all of us. Which is what makes you want to slap her and say, "snap out of it!" Even Missy showed that she had a somewhat of a heart and told her to go and make it right. Even if I don't see their friendship as real and true. I'd call them obligatory Christmas card list, party attendees, rather than friends. Peter(Gabriel Byrne) while admitting his addictions that he wanted Louise to "catch him". To see that he had problems. He said she always saw him as a Knight in Shining Armor and that might be true to a point, but she was all hung up in could/would/should with Scott #1. So, she shouldn't get off Scott-free (pun intended) like F. Scott wisely said, "It takes two." Then there's "The Mother and Child" painting. Which is almost like a character itself. It was a gift from Scott #1, but it takes F. Scott (or Francis Scott Key Feinstadt) to tell her that basically that it's a piece of 'crap' and an insult to real artists. I think the ending would have been better served with a shot of this painting or a replacement of one of F. Scott's to come full circle. There were some rumblings in internet land regarding the lack of an original ending. As a reader of Schulman's novel, while some things are abandoned and/or redone for the sake of the film, it plays out well. We are left to believe that Louise who herself pulled a "step nine" and made peace with everyone is having a happy relationship not with F. Scott Feinstadt, but Francis (Fran-in the book, Scotty) Scott Key Feinstadt. And there lies the difference. What the audience has known all along. He's different. (DUH) He's not the dead guy (and one of Louise's meanest scenes was the 'necktie dialogue') He's his own person. F. Scott had absolutely nothing to do with Scott #1. He loves Louise more. Listen to the comment from Missy that he refused her advances (now those would have been excellent scenes between Grace and Harden!) and she gave him not one, but two shots. While it would've been nice to see the breakfast scene and the Chinatown date, and some of the other odds and ends, "p.s." plays like one of those old-fashioned morality tales. "p.s." is a wonderfully crafted tale of what happens when you can't let the past go and how it affects your future relationships. You have to look for the pattern and fix it. Take a leaf from F.Scott's book and "move on." Only then will your life be "Okay".

A job well done by cast and crew. A must see. 10/10