p.s. (2004)

In the quirky and surprising if sometimes sappy p.s. (lower case), a divorced 39-year old art school administrator Louise Harrington (Laura Linney) falls for a 24-year old student-artist (TV's Topher Grace) and appears to be the reincarnation of her long-dead high school lover. The spiky, knowing screenplay, adapted from a novel by Helen Shulman, contains many subtle delights, insights and superb dialog on the nature of truth, perspective, aging, humiliation, betrayal and addiction. Peripheral characters include Louise’s self-involved ex (Gabriel Byrne), her neurotic mother, a quirky brother, and her jealous best friend (Marcia Gay Hardin). All the performance are fine, but it's Linney's that really sticks with you - remarkable for its abundance of skill and lack of vanity. For my money, Linney is one of the very best actresses working in films today.