Highly Overrated But Still Good

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

I watched this because Laura Linney is a talented actress and usually she does interesting work. Plus Marcia Gay Harden and Paul Rudd are in supporting roles so it had to be worth a watch.What a strange movie this turned out to be. It doesn't really fit into any category. It's not fantasy and it isn't a romantic comedy. A few moments of out of place drama are interspersed with some odd dialog too. Plus the love scene is awkward.The May December thing is a bit icky. Gabriel Byrne plays the sex addicted ex husband.It would have been nice to have some explanation about the similarities between the deceased and the present. But it never came. Overall it is an uneasy blend of drama and whatever. Finally when the kind of happy ending took place it didn't mean very much.

Dylan Kidd's 'P.S.' centres around 'Louise', a 39 year old university professor who falls in love with a prospective student...thinking that he's the boyfriend who died twenty years ago. But, hang on, this isn't your usual back-from-the dead/ reincarnation love story. The film delves far deeper into Louise's psyche, exploring her inner turmoil and unresolved conflicts. We later learn that this deceased boyfriend wasn't even a nice fellow and yet Louside holds on to a memory that wasn't even real. Kidd's storytelling is quite tricky. At times I thought it was all in Louise's head but neither this nor the alternative is ever confirmed. Shot beautifully, with a fine background score. 'P.S.' is a well-made film. While the editing is mostly good, I felt some of the deleted scenes should have been left in, like the post-interview café sequence which added to the Louise and Fran characters. Laura Linney carries the role with natural grace. Her castmates Topher Grace, Lois Smith, Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden and Paul Rudd provide great support. 'P.S.' may not be everyone's cup of coffee but it's definitely my kind of film.

**SPOILERS** Very similar to the back from the dead, through reincarnation, movie released around the same time "Birth" the made for TV movie "P.S" has to do with someone who died some twenty years ago coming back to re-start his love affair with not just one but two lovers. The strange thing about all this is that the long "dead person" now in his early twenties and a student at New York's Colombia University is, unlike in the movie "Birth", the very last person in the movie to figure this all out!It's chief of student admissions at Columbia Louise Harrington, Laura Linney, who first notices the what seems like re-born F. Scott Feinstadt, Topher Grace, when he called her for an interview to be accepted in the collage's prestigious art program. With her eyes bulging out of their sockets Louise realizes that Scott is the carbon-copy of her long dead lover from high-school who shares the very same name, first & last, with him. Poor and totally confused Scott who's only looking to get accepted in the collage's art class ends up being seduced and ravaged, which in fact he's anything but against, by the sex starved Louise within hours after his interview with her!To make things even more interesting we also have Louise's ex-husband Peter, Gabriel Byrne, pop up and after thinking things over with her suddenly admits that he's been having an affair behind her back! This with Peter being divorced from Louise and thus being free do do, in regards with his sex life, anything he want's! The real kicker to Peter's heart felt confession to Louise is that he's hopelessly addicted to sex and had been having hundreds of affairs while he was still married to her with, in him being a collage professor, his both female as well as male student's! Shocked at Peter's infidelity Louise is left speechless and thus gravities back to Scott, who hasn't a clue to what's going on, to continue her hot and heavy affair with him.Things reach explosive levels in the movie when Louise's friend from high-school and rival for the late Scott's affections Missy Goldberg, Marcia Gay Barden, gets in touch with her and tells a stunned Louise that she in fact knows that Scott as come back from the dead and has also, like Louise, restarted her affair with him! On top of all that sex addicted Peter also finds out that Louise, who's not married to him, is having an affair with another man-Scott-which almost leads the two to square off at each other!***SPOILERS*** The ending of this very confusing movie leaves a lot of loose ends in regards to Scott's relationship with both Lousie and Missy but by then you've been through so many sub-plots to what it's, the Scott Louise & Missy connection, all about that both you and Scott are by then ready to forget about the whole damn thing! About the best thing that happens in the movie is in the end is that Scott is finally accepted into Colombia University's exclusive art school, which is all that he wanted in the first place, on the strength of what looked like six grainy and out of focus slides of his art works. But as we see Scott wouldn't have made it without Louise, who's still hopefully infatuated with the young man, pulling a few strings in his favor.

Imagine the shock Louise Harrington, a professor at Columbia University gets upon receiving a letter from a student applicant whose name is the same as her old boyfriend, who died in a tragic car accident years ago. Little prepares her for the way Scott, a young man that shows promise, will shake her up and awakens a passion she didn't know she had inside her.Louise has been divorced from Peter, another Columbia professor, and in their last few years together had no sex together. Peter confesses to his ex-wife he is addicted to sex. Louise had no inkling about Peter's sexual life. He has had many encounters, mainly with students, women and men, as he doesn't discriminate who he takes to bed.Scott sweeps Louise off her feet and awakens in her a newly discovered passion she didn't know she had in her. This relationship is threatened when Missy Goldberg, Louise best friend and confidante, comes into town because she suspects her friend is having a mad affair with the younger man. They have both been in love with the old boyfriend who had died tragically. Missy, in fact, has always envied Louise, something that comes clear in a final confrontation at the end of the film."P.S." was directed and adapted by Dylan Kidd, an interesting director whose "Roger Dodger" made him known to film fans. The novel in which the film is based was written by Helen Schulman, but not having read it, we can't make any comparisons, although Mr. Kidd's adaptation flows easily as a movie.The best thing in "P.S." is Laura Linney. This actress projects such intelligence and radiates charm in everything she plays. We can't imagine anyone else in this part. Ms. Linney's contribution to the success of the film is invaluable. Topher Grace is also good as Scott, the student that knows exactly what he is getting into and awakens Louise into a passion she didn't know she had. Gabriel Byrne is seen as Peter, the ex-husband. Marcia Gay Harden makes a short appearance into one of the best thing in the film as the friend that has everything, yet has always envied Louise. Lois Smith and Paul Rudd have minor roles."P.S." is an adult film that makes us think because Dylan Kidd doesn't compromise with the story and because he knows how to present this tale about adult people going through painful situations and discovering things about themselves.