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P.S. (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:77
Fresh:43
Rotten:34
Average Rating:5.8/10
Synopsis: Confirming the extraordinary promise of his debut, Dylan Kidd’s P.S. is a film as disarmingly lovely and romantic as Roger Dodger was acerbic and cutting. Louise Harrington (Laura Linney), a... Confirming the extraordinary promise of his debut, Dylan Kidd’s P.S. is a film as disarmingly lovely and romantic as Roger Dodger was acerbic and cutting. Louise Harrington (Laura Linney), a divorced, thirty-something admission’s office at Columbia University’s School of Fine Arts is intelligent, pretty, successful, and. . . unfulfilled. That is, until a graduate school application crosses her desk and she arranges to interview the young painter. When Scott Feinstadt (Topher Grace) appears, he bears an uncanny resemblance to Louise’s high school boyfriend and one true love, an artist who died in a car accident twenty years earlier. Within hours of the interview, Louise and Scott have embarked on a passionately uninhibited older woman/younger man affair. But is Scott just a reminder of Louise’s lost love? And is Scott just trying to wheedle his way into the Ivy League? Adding to the romantic complications is competition from Louise’s best friend from high school, Missy (Marcia Gay Harden), who shows up to claim the affections of the boy; Louise's co-dependent ex-husband Peter (Gabriel Byrne); her cynical mother (Lois Smith) and fresh-out-of-rehab brother (Paul Rudd). Torrid and tender, serious and sexy, P.S. features a career performance from Laura Linney (Mystic River, You Can Count On Me) and a breakthrough leading man turn for Topher Grace (Traffic, That 70’s Show). P.S., based on Helen Schulman's novel of the same name, shot entirely in New York City, is a romantic fable about getting a second chance at first love. -- © Newmarket Films [More]
Starring: Laura Linney, Topher Grace, Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden
Starring: Laura Linney, Topher Grace, Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, Paul Rudd
Director: Dylan Kidd
Director: Dylan Kidd
Screenwriter: Dylan Kidd
Producer: John N. Hart, Jeff Sharp, Robert Kessel, Anne Chaisson
Screenwriter: Helen Schulman
Composer: Craig Wedren
Studio: Newmarket Films
Reviews for P.S.
The actors elevate the material a bit, but they can't escape the fact that the movie only has vague goals set for itself.
It's a romantic comedy-drama that's every bit as unpredictable, offbeat and assured as Kidd's first film, although some third-act problems keep it from real greatness.
Linney directs her scenes from within them, holding our attention and keeping the focus on her confusion, her pain and her hope.
p.s. is a showcase for Linney, who juggles Louise's many self-contradictions ... in a bright and humor-filled performance.
When the film dispenses with its Harlequinish plot foolishness and flies on the director's considerable instinct, it's a gas.
An interesting misstep...the lead performances are superb, but even they can't make up for the hard-to-swallow story.
No matter how good Laura Linney is, she can't overcome this movie that goes nowhere and has nothing really interesting to say.
Both genders are programmed by eons of Darwinian genetic strategy, and so we believe them, and because Linney and Grace are sexy and play well together, the age gap is not a barrier so much as additional seasoning.
Despite an excellent supporting cast something in p.s. goes mushy and implausible.
Can't seem to make up its mind whether it's a romantic comedy, a drama or a psychological thriller and settles for being an odd -- and unbelievable -- hybrid of all three.
...menopausal drama full of hot flashes and preposterous plot turns. P.S., Linney overacts too.
Latest News for P.S.
May 19, 2005:
Topher Grace Joins the "Spider-Man 3" Cast
Topher Grace has joined the cast of "Spider-Man 3," it was announced by director Sam Raimi and producers Laura Ziskin and Marvel Studio's Avi Arad. Grace will join... More...
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