After The Apocalypse Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)October 18th, 2004
P.S.
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2004 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
What if? What if decades later your old flame from high school suddenly and expectedly reentered your life? And not just any old sweetheart but that great looking, sexy one that got away.
In P.S., this "what if" gets better. Imagine your old boyfriend or girlfriend showing up on your doorstep now. Got that image in your mind? Now, what if that person hadn't aged at all and was as sexy and good looking as ever? Sound pretty exciting? Well it is for Louise Harrington (Laura Linney), a Columbia University admissions director who finds a handsome young hunk named F. Scott Feinstadt (Topher Grace) applying for the art department. Before she lost F. Scott to her old best friend Missy (Marcia Gay Harden) back in high school and before he subsequently died in a car accident, she and F. Scott were a real item. This F. Scott doesn't appear to know her from Adam, but she couldn't care less. It's him.
So what would you do in this situation? Yes, Louise does exactly what you think you might do. She doesn't question the cosmic laws of the universe that would send her dead lover back to her. Instead she takes him straight to her apartment for some great, passionate sex before he has a chance to figure out what the heck is going on.
Although it has some needlessly pretentious dialog, the movie, which is best in non-verbal moments, is an intriguing study in the meaning of relationships and their possibilities. A subplot concerns Louise's current best friend, Peter Harrington (Gabriel Byrne), her ex-husband, who has some secrets to share that Louise isn't wild about hearing.
Surprisingly the movie doesn't waste much energy having Louise attempt to discover if F. Scott is a con artist, an accidental look-a-like, a figment of her imagination or the dead guy reincarnate. The story wants to explore the possibilities of the situation rather than waste time on the mystery.
"The whole thing is too mystical for me," Louise says at one point, with an unprintable adjective thrown in for good measure. I disagree. P.S. is a sensuous, thinking person's movie that is satisfyingly intriguing. It's enjoyable while it lasts, and, as a bonus, it leaves you things to ponder afterwards.
P.S. runs 1:37. It is rated R for "language and sexuality" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film is playing nationwide release now in the United States. In the Silicon Valley, it is showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
