P.S. I Love You (Blu-ray)

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There are also cute segments dealing with a karaoke bar, a singing messenger, and a "wild" dog, plus some gorgeous photography of Ireland late in the picture. But these bits are few and far between, and the rest of the film is filled with stereotypes and clichés. You say you like stereotypes and clichés? No problem; this film's got a boatload of them. Since Gerry is Irish, the film portrays him as boisterous, brawling, loving, and carefree, like all Irishmen. Since Holly is also Irish, their marriage is like all Irish marriages--they're fighting and quarreling one minute, loving and happy the next. Since Holly's mother is Irish, she owns a bar. And since the film sets the last third or so of the story in Ireland, it pictures everyone we see there as living in quaint country cottages overlooking rolling green hills, lakes, and woods.

At 127 minutes, the movie is much too long for its slender subject matter. With a healthy dose of pathos, not nearly enough humor mixed in with the romance, and a fairly mushy (if admittedly touching) conclusion, "P.S. I Love You" is a lot less than the sum of its parts.

Video:
Like its standard-definition counterpart, the picture quality on this 1080p, VC-1, Blu-ray video transfer varies from scene to scene. Colors, in general, are bright and deep, especially outdoor shots like the ones in Ireland and especially in high def. Then there are other scenes, like indoor shots in low lighting, that remain steadfastly soft, rough, and fuzzy no matter the screen resolution, with darker areas, including small areas of shadow and even faces, looking somewhat murky. When the picture is good, it's as good as it gets, and when it isn't, well, it's fairly ordinary. Object delineation is definitely crisper and sharper in high def than in SD, but it is not exactly a night-and-day difference. Fortunately, there are no indications of excessive grain, noise, haloing, or the like, so the screen is fairly clean in that regard.

Audio:
I'm not sure why Warner Bros. chooses to use lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 on some high-def discs and not on others, but I'm not complaining when they do. This TrueHD soundtrack does little more than reproduce dialogue and music, but it comes across smoothly and realistically, with a well-focused, well-controlled bass. What's more, because the music is most often a solo voice and guitar, there is no great need for surround sound or wide dynamics. The front-channel stereo spread is more than adequate, and the tonal balance is quite natural. I quite enjoyed the sound, so all is well.

Extras:
The pocketful of extras is the same as on WB's standard-definition disc, except that two of the four major items are in high def. Things begin with "A Conversation with Cecelia Ahern" (HD), seven minutes with the young author of the novel on which the filmmakers based the movie. Next is a music video (SD), "Same Mistake," a song from the film, with James Blunt. Then there's "The Name of the Game Is Snaps: Learn How to Play" (HD), a cute, put-on advertisement for the goofy game in the movie. Finally, there is a series of additional scenes (SD) lasting about twelve minutes. Things wrap up with twenty-eight scene selections (but no chapter insert); English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; French and Spanish subtitles; English captions for the hearing impaired; and pop-up menus.

Parting Shots:
During the months before the release of "P.S. I Love You" to theaters, I probably saw the trailer for it a half a dozen times, a trailer that suggested the movie was a romantic comedy. I'd say if you saw the trailer, you probably saw most of the film's humor. Otherwise, there isn't much substance, funny or otherwise, to the story; there isn't much happening that you can't guess well in advance; and there isn't much to the high-def picture and sound except intermittently. Moreover, even though Holly and Gerry have a loving relationship, it puts rather a damper on the situation when he dies early on, and all we have to see forevermore is how happy the couple used to be and could have been. It's hard to beat the story's ending, yet, overall, it's one that probably reads better than it comes off on screen.