Customer Reviews

Message in a Bottle

5 star:		(86)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

I found this movie absolutely fascinating;the story was a typical romance. It explored the human emotion and curiosity that we all feel when we find an insight into another person's relationship. Kevin Costner was your typical man of the sea and portrayed a man not ready to move on with his life after the tragic loss of his partner. It took someone like Robyn Penn Wright to stir the deeply hidden emotions but even then she could not compare to his lost love. She gave him inspiration and made him dig deep to find his true self. Paul Newman was superb as the crusty kindly father and without his inclusion in the film, be it as a supporting role, a lot of the emotion would hasve been lost. The pain suffered by the inlaws at the loss of their daughter was so true to life when someone they love dies so tragically. All in all the scenery was superb and the DVD is recommended

This review refers to the DVD widescreen edition of "Message in a Bottle(Warner Bros)...

"Dear Catherine....You Are My True North...." Sigh...Who wouldn't want to hear those words?

The story is touching, romantic and spellbinding.Teresa is a single mother, doing her best to raise her son, still stinging form the infidelities of her ex-husband. She has a promising career as a journalist and her days are filled with work, and her young son. She isn't trying to find the love her her life, but perhaps it has found her. While jogging on a beach in Cape Cod, Teresa discovers..yes..a message in a bottle. She is so touched by the beautiful words of the sender, that she can't help but to try and locate him.(It helps being a journalist, and having lots of resources at your fingertips).Little did she know that finding the author of this beautiful letter would change her life forever.

"Message In A Bottle" is not only a beautiful story of real love, but one that is also a journey of self awareness, of opening up to the possibilities that life has to offer.It is one that you will probably need a hanky or two as well.It is for the lover of really romantic stories. It may be a little tough, for someone who is not into tear jerkers to sit through. It's Great film for a girl's night together... and some, like me, may enjoy it for the beckoning scenes of the sea and the sail.

A fabulous cast of course. Kevin Costner and Robin Wright Penn have a wonderful on screen chemistry. Illeana Douglas and Robbie Coltrane add their talents, and can you ever go wrong when Paul Newman Shows up in any film? He, has always been and still is my True North, and was the bonus feature for me!

Warner has made a very nice presentation on DVD. Sharp, clear, excellent colors. The water looks very inviting. It is presented in widescreen, and has great sound in dol Dig 5.1. Surround.Features include commentary by Director Mandoki,and if you navigate around the features menu, every once in a while, a bottle will pop up, click on , these are 5 "Easter Eggs", hidden special features about the making of the film.

Enjoy....Laurie

also recommended - for a long drive the audio book:Message in a Bottle
or curl up with:Love Story

Message in a Bottle, brings to the screen the love story between a recently widowed man from a small fishing village in North Carolina and a divorced journalist out of Chicago.

It is a film about human relations, hope and second chances, but most importantly about trust, love, and inner strength.

Kevin Costner, Robin Wright Penn, Paul Newman, and the rest of the cast, have truly outdone themselves with their performances, which are exceptional to say the least! All the actors, without exceptions, give it their 100% and it really shows (the chemistry is AMAZING)! Very well written and very well presented, the movie is without a doubt guaranteed to provide a few laughs, not to mention a few tears. The film is simple enough, but does a great job of describing people's every day lives and the problems they face. It just goes to show that simplicity is often far better than complexity, when trying to present issues of a human nature.

The only setbacks are in relation to some weak lines that Robbie Coltrane's character has to say, and also in relation to the little boy; is there really any reason why the boy has to look like a girl???

The setting, the plot, the dialogues and the music are all wonderful!

In short, Message in a Bottle is a movie definitely worth watching and one to seriously consider adding to your movie collection! 4½ Stars

Right from the very first scene, the viewer senses something extraordinary is about to take place...and it does. Unlike most films today, this one centers upon genuine love - not lust - between two lonely people. Kevin Costner portrays Garrett Blake, a seagoing boat renovator and a widower of two years who cannot let go of the past. Robin Wright-Penn plays Theresa, a research specialists for the Chicago Tribune and a divorcee with a young son. While taking a few days holiday she discovers Garrett's message of love to his deceased wife in a bottle that washed up to shore. Haunted by the letter, she uses her research skills, along with the help of the Chicago newspaper staff, to track Garrett down. The shy awkwardness the two characters exhibit when they're together is refreshingly charming and very realistic. In spite of their lack of finesse, a sensitive, beautiful love story begins to take hold that is destined to pierce the viewer's heart. With the memory of his late wife, Catherine, constantly overshadowing their relationship, Garrett and Theresa continue to draw closer to one another and fall deeper in love. Their story concludes, however, with a surprising twist. Paul Newman, who portrays Garrett's father (Dodge), remains a master of his trade. Coarse, and brutally honest, Dodge's love for his son, and approval of the new woman on the scene, is heartwarming. Newman's character proves to be a necessary anchor for the two lovers. With an exceptional supporting cast who enhance the tale, and beautifully filmed on the coast of Maine, "Message In A Bottle" is a sad love story, but it sends a powerful message to us all. May we never forget it.

I first saw this movie on an airplane a few months ago. The usual interruptions occurred throughout -- my neighbour lifted the blind to see if it was still daylight at 2 pm, an infant a couple of seats away started squalling, and so on. However, when the pilot asked us to fasten our seatbelt (in two languages), a lot of people groaned audibly. Later on, when he interrupted a crucial moment in the movie to advise us that on our right you could see some town or other of 32,000 people, several passengers actually yelled for him to shut up. Tellingly, when the film was over, a lot of people including myself were wiping their eyes.

I love films, see a lot of them, and think I know good ones from bad. A lot of this film's flaws have been discussed here and elsewhere, and I agree with much that was said, but somehow, in spite of the weaknesses, Message still refuses to leave my consciousness. There is something about it that rings true, at least to this unabashed 61-year-old romantic.

I rented it a second time recently and liked it even more. It was on that occasion that the close connection with the novel Wuthering Heights came into focus. (The novel is specifically mentioned in the movie, the first wife is named Catherine, and most importantly, she and Theresa are identified with opposing external worlds. Even more than Catherine, Garret is a part of the sea, not Chicago, and must ultimately be claimed by it (or Catherine, if you will) when his ties with the ocean begin to be loosened. Far from being gratuitous, the ending is absolutely necessary to the film's structure.

If Garret had been allowed to follow his father's advice and move on, we all would have felt better when it was over. It undoubtedly would have done better at the box office. But in the process, it would have lost most, if not all, of its deeper meaning, and remained a medocre feel-good movie. As of this writing, Kostner is involved in a quarrel with his latest film's distributors over the movie's final form. He apparantly has lost that battle. Thank goodness Hollywood sometimes does the right thing.

This is a movie I bought primarily for my wife, I thought on first impressions when reading the back cover it would be a chick-flick. How wrong I was. This movie is best enjoyed on DVD for its seaborne settings more than anything - the Maine locations, doubling up for South Carolina are a joy to look at and add to the movie's many delights. But most of all, the performers are superb. Robin Wright-Penn plays Thresea, a divorcee and reporter who stumbles across a message in a green bottle addressed to one Catherine. She tracks down the sender to South Carolina - boat builder Garret Blake, played brilliantly by Kevin Costner who proves he's not typecast in action roles all the time! Blake is mourning his dead wife Catherine . . . and before you know it, time spent on his yacht and a bit of opening up his feelings brings out the romantic in both of them. But all does not run well in love as the plot takes on an interesting twist when he visits Theresa and her son in Chicago.And the ending, although a wee bit predictacle, is a real crusher, but then life has its ups and downs as well, one may say. Overall, this movie, like the also thought-provoking and brilliant WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, is one which you must watch with a wife or partner. I definitely agree with other reviews - it will make you appreciate each other a lot more and not take him or her for granted. Also watch out for Paul Newman as Blake's father - another very talented performer! Also, you get to hear a great soundtrack, including a song called I WILL KNOW YOUR LOVE by the beautiful and talented Beth Nielsen Chapman! A must see.

This is the story of a journey of the heart for Theresa Osborne, a researcher-writer for the Chicago Tribune and a divorced mom with a young son, Jason. When Jason's dad takes him for a summer visit, Theresa's journey begins at a deserted beach on Cape Cod where she finds a message in a bottle.

The message Theresa reads quite obviously tugs at her soul as she proceeds to share it with her hostess at the bed and breakfast where she's staying, with her co-workers back at the Tribune where she returns one day early, and with her boss, who does her the favor of sharing the message with Chicago.

Theresa sets out on a mission, with the paper's encouragement, to find out who the message was written by and the story behind it all. Using her job's resources, she tracks down the author in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. He is Garret Blake, a terse ship-builder and restorer whose discomfort with the world around him is alleviated only by his passion for the sea.

Kevin Costner (Blake) does well with roles that don't require a lot of overt emotion and he does well here. Robin Wright-Penn as Theresa was very good as the reporter who gets all too caught up in her story. A special mention of Paul Newman here doing yeoman character work as Blake's father Dodge, who understands his son's pain all too well and who tries to help all around him keep their emotions in check and headed in the right direction.

The movie's downfall comes from a meandering plot from screenwriter Gerald DiPego ("Phenomenon") and a decidedly downbeat denouement. However, the acting, locations, and direction of Luis Mandoki are good, bordering on excellent.

What a movie! I loved the interaction of Kevin Costner and Robin Wright Penn. This story just broke my heart and days after first viewing this, I am still thinking about it. I must be softie becuase beautiful love stories between men and women seem to be lacking on the big screen. I truly enjoyed this movie as I did The Horse Whisperer. Both are stories about hope and trust, love and caring. There is nothing wrong in desiring to be loved and to love deeply. I only wish that the movie had gone a little further in developing the trust and love and bringing into the mix more interaction of the supporting cast. The ending of the movie is hard to take and I cried over it. My heart ached over the love found and then lost. I give this move 4.25 stars out of 5. Where was I when this movie came out in 1999? Well done! very well done!

This movie is the perfect movie to take your spouse to. The movie deals with a husband (Costner) who took life with his wife completely for granted. Dealing with grief is a hard enough issue to convey in a movie. Costner and Newman are purely magical when you witness how a man deals with grief and moving on with life, with Newman's character pushing the healing along. Wright - Penn, a single mother meets Costner and falls head over heels for a man who is still holding a torch for his deceased wife. The chemistry between Wright-Penn and Costner is powerful enough to keep any man or woman who may be skeptical about a second chance at love glued to their seats, leaving them teary-eyed and a little more appreciative of their spouse by the end of the movie. An intersting observation when I saw this movie in the theater. There was not a single couple who had a dry eye in the movie house. I witnessed more hand holding and door holding open for women than I have ever witnessed in a theater. The movie moves the heart, soul and spirit of movie-goers that much. Enjoy the movie. It is well worth the investment in these "too-busy" days when people forget their priorities in life.

This was definitely a 5 tissue movie! I absolutely loved this movie! I watched and rewatched the video numerous time during a long three day weekend. If you could dog-ear a video, this one would have been dog-earred from so many rewindings. Who cares what the critics say, I thought the chemistry between the two characters, the romance, the setting, the music, everything was perfect. Like other reviewers, I would have preferred "the happily ever after" ending, but I can understand why the movie ended the way it did. After watching the video, I bought the book. I enjoyed the book, but I actually enjoyed the movie better. For a 2+ hour movie, it was definitely worth the time. I actually wish it were longer, so I could have seen the scenes they cut out. For people who love a good romance, then this is a definite must-see, but bring tissue because this is a major tearjerker.