P.S. Reviews

An admissions officer for Columbia gets involved with an applicant whose name reminds her of a man from her past.
The performances by Laura Linney and Topher Grace save this film from the miasma of self-indulgence that it threatens to fall into. Linney, in particular, conveys a whole palette of emotion, from insecure lust to confident determination, and Grace sprinkles in sensitivity to his douchey character.
While the plot doesn't pay off and there's an important scene in a hotel room that leaves the audience wondering if it got spliced in from another movie, the story is good enough to provide Linney opportunity to show off her acting chops.
Overall, I like Linney enough to follow her into this poorly constructed film.

Cast: Laura Linney, Topher Grace, Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, Paul Rudd, Lois Smith, Jennifer Carta, Ross A. McIntyre, Chris Meyer, Becki Newton, Stacy Lynn Spierer

Director: Dylan Kidd

Summary: College admissions officer Louise Harrington (Laura Linney), a divorced woman in her late thirties, is looking for someone special enough to put her heart on the line, but the only man she's ever loved died 20 years ago. When a college applicant, Scott (Topher Grace), appears to be her true love reincarnated, will Louise finally find the happiness she seeks? Or is Scott just playing along to get into the Ivy League?

My Thoughts: "Wonderful cast. I wasn't blown away with the story, but it was definitely interesting. Louise Harrington, is a woman longing for the past. She spends her time thinking about the "what ifs" in life. When F. Scott Feinstadt comes in the picture is when it gets odd. He looks, speaks, and acts just like her high school boyfriend and happens to share his name. She comes somewhat intrigued with him and a bit obsessed. The whole story is a bit weird and it never really goes anywhere. But interesting none the less."

Odd, but it was pretty good.

The most beautiful parts of the movie don't really push the plot forward: F. Scott "painting" Louise, Louise's imagine-yourself monologue. And by plot, I mean the "metaphysical" quandary that is the supposed donnee of the movie. The real let-down is that there IS no metaphysical payoff; it's all just coincidence that F. Scott resembles Scott so much. Decent performances but F. Scott's is such a douche. If he's really not the dead-lover-reincarnated, I don't find his personality redeemable enough for Louise to actually fall for him.

Tophe Grace shows his diversity in this romantic drama.

A lovely film.

REALLY bad movie. It never picked up, and there was absolutely no point to it whatsoever.

I really thought this film was actually going somewhere. Topher Grace's performance was kind of interesting but ultimately fell flat and you sort of sit there wondering how could laura linney really take this guy seriously....Topher just delivers his lines like a goofball while Laura Linney, Gabreil Byrne, and Marcia Gay Harden!!! are in a serious drama. It kept my attention throughout but in the end it just didn't work. There was something to work with but it doesn't really evolve into something satisfying. It's interesting though.

Plot hole? Linney says he paints like her old boyfriend but her old bfriend painted that portrait that was abstract....and he doesn't paint that way.

Surprisingly a very cute romantic comedy. I love Topher, he adds wit and humor to everything he does!

weird movie. parts of it just sucked, others were compelling and insightful. I didn't always feel like I knew what was going on.

A silly premise too easily believed by the female leads. It's spirals out of control about halfway through, but Laura Linney is wonderful, as always.

Dull, dull, dull. Every scene is dull. Even the sex scene and the scenes with lovely Topher (!). However, as usual, Laura Linney makes total magic. The woman is a national treasure.

This is the type of movie that actors will cite when they want to do an audition scene. It seemed more like a character study, or an acting workshop, than a well-rounded movie. However, this movie has a sex scene that is so organic that I literally had to cover my eyes because I felt like I was watching porn starring two actors that I really like. Fantastic.

It was a pretty good movie. It would have been better had they left out the reincarnation part. There really was no need for it.

It's an ok premise, but it just never really works. Except for Laura Linney, who's pretty much always amazing.

I don't think this movie knew where it wanted to go at all. Laura Linney and Topher Grace had sexual chemistry and ok I got it even with the huge age discrepancy, but there was too much sloppiness in this film. I'm still giving it 3 stars instead of less because this was not the actors fault (except maybe in accepting the roles).

Hmm, did not like this one, you think you get a psychological thriller, but what you get is an uneven romantic drama

As much as I wanted this movie to come through, it seems to fall short of some ambiguous goal. After all the buildup of the identity, I can't help but feel let down when we discover who Louise has been having trouble letting go.

However, Linney is a pleasure to watch and as always, brilliantly human. Balancing fragility and resilience in a way that never fails to soften hearts, Linney is completely in her element.

Grace also gives a noteworthy performance, displaying a very believable charm. Watching him on screen I couldn't help but think that he was simply playing himself.