Chick flicks, romances novels, the backs of cereal boxes. Normally quite shallow and uninvolved selections of entertainment, pieces you can watch without really watching, or read while preoccupied with other items. They normally aren't the winners of Pulitzer prizes or the talk of the Cannes Film Festival, but you'll see them fill theaters with weepy middle-aged women and heartbroken teenagers, and grace the beaches of the world. These simplistic jewels of the entertainment industry make a multi-tasker's job so much easier.

But of course, there always has to be one thing that breaks the mold. P.S. I Love You, directed by Richard LaGravenese, could certainly be one of those mold breakers. While it holds true to most of the characteristics of a classic chick flick (man and woman in love, sadness and tears, drama, comic relief friends), it easily carries itself beyond such predictable expectations. The opening scene beginswith quarreling lovers, Gerry and Holly Kennedy (Gerard Butler and Hilary Swank), and ends with a loveable and adorable make up. The beginning is similar to the ending of a stereotypical chick flick, but of course, the story progresses. Within a few months, Gerry dies of a brain tumor, and Holly is left to pick up the pieces without the only man she has ever loved. While she at first hides at home and refuses to face the world, a letter arrives in the mail and it is from....Gerry. As it turns out, before his death, he arranged for a series of letters, packages and surprises to be delivered to Holly, so that she might learn to move on in her life, and find someone else to love. Her adventure of overcoming the pain takes her across the globe and into unfamiliar and hilarious territory.

P.S. I Love You is not a story where everything works out in the end. It isn't about love overcoming all obstacles, or about two people meeting their soul mates. It's about what happens after. It's about what happens after the sweeping love story, and when real life sets in. There isn't a happy ending, but the bittersweet and somewhat ironic one fits perfectly. In this movie, life and love aren't perfect, but that's why it's so different. As the scenes focus on Holly's pain and reluctance to let go, we feel the same pain, and when she finally allows herself to move on in life, our heartstrings are finally put to rest, and we our cravings for a quality movie are satisfied.

By: Sarah Graham, NFHS Chronicle Contributor