P.S. I Love You (2007/Warner Blu-ray)

 

Picture: A-     Sound: A-     Extras: B-     Film: B

 

 

Most people are familiar with Richard LaGravenese through his successful screenplays such as The Fisher King, The Bridges of Madison County, The Horse Whisperer and Beloved, but he has also had some recent hits in the directors’ chair and continues to churn out better-than-average work with P.S. I Love You.  Here is works again with his leading lady from the underrated Freedom Writers, Hillary Swank who delivers yet another top-notch performance. 

 

Swank is a young widow who discovers that her late husband (played by 300 star Gerard Butler in a superb performance as well) has left her a series of 10 messages, which are designed to help her get on with her life without him.  Since he knew that his illness would eventually take his life he took all the necessary steps so that she could receive these messages at pivotal times and they come in a variety of ways.  Through this she learns to deal with his death and begins to embark on new discoveries of her own.

 

Before you can say ‘chick flick,’ this is actually for the record one of the better films along that sub-genre and is both poignant and funny throughout.  The film also boasts a nice handful of competent actors and actresses like Lisa Kudrow, Gina Gershon, Harry Connick Jr., and Kathy Bates to name a few. 

 

The film is presented in a 1.85 X 1 anamorphic 1080p digital High Definition transfer that is a sheer delight with all the vibrancy and clarity that Blu-ray has to offer.  The color-palette for this film is really well thought-out and brings a great array of hues that DVD has difficulty handling.  There are only some moments where the Blu-ray seems slightly softer than some of the reference quality Blu-rays that have been released, but overall it’s still light years above what DVD could ever offer. 

 

Sound quality is also top-notch with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix of the film that is really stellar for a romantic/comedy.  Rarely do we get a full-immersion sonic treat here, but the music and dialogue have a great deal of fidelity that demonstrates what even simple sound designs have to offer when done well.  Extras include some additional scenes, 2 featurettes, and the James Blunt music video.  Some of the extras are in 1080p as well, while the others are in 480p or 480i and everyone is in stereo in the extras department. 

 

Overall this is a really nice little package of a film that was surprisingly better than anticipated and marks another film of LaGravenese that should be looked into, even for the most hesitant viewer.

 

 

-   Nate Goss