Message In A Bottle

**

Reviewed by: Angus Wolfe Murray

Message In A Bottle
"The glossy magazine spin to this innocent touchy-feely romance destroys all faith in the advancement of human intelligence."

While jogging on the beach, don't stop for bottles. One might contain a letter, which, through the magic of cinema, will whisk you into the arms of the most boring man in North Carolina.

It happened to Theresa (Robin Wright Penn), a researcher on the Chicago Tribune, divorced with son, fabulous-looking, a great mom, living in a spotless house, with - can this be possible? - no boyfriend. The boring guy is Garret (Kevin Costner), a boat builder, still mourning the loss of his wife, living by the sea in an equally spotless house, saying, "I cook the best steaks." Wow!

Copy picture

The glossy magazine spin to this innocent touchy-feely romance destroys all faith in the advancement of human intelligence. Watching Theresa is nice, as is the appearance of Paul Newman, as Garret's dad. He's a scrappy oldtimer, who likes to tell you that he's off the sauce. Well, almost. "Two beers a day, goddamit!".

Ballads by Beth Nielsen Chapman, Marc Cohn, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow et al (soundtrack album on Atlantic) fill the gaps between tentative exchanges and a full frontal snogging sesh. The movie goes on and on. Garret flies to Chicago for a visit and is boring there, too. Theresa's son likes him, which is allowed, since he's young and doesn't know any better. Will she chuck her job? Will you chuck your lunch? Will he build the perfect boat? Will she remove her shoes and socks? Will he say something interesting? Will they get together? Don't wait up.

Reviewed on: 19 Jan 2001
Share this with others on...
Message In A Bottle packshot
A bottle on the beach sparks romance.
Amazon link

Director: Luis Mandoki

Writer: Gerald Di Pego, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks

Starring: Kevin Costner, Robin Wright, Paul Newman, John Savage, Illeana Douglas, Robbie Coltrane, Jesse James, Bethel Leslie, Tom Aldredge

Year: 1999

Runtime: 132 minutes

BBFC: 12 - Age Restricted

Country: US

Festivals:


Search database:


If you like this, try:

The Notebook

DJDT

Versions

Time

Settings from settings.local

Headers

Request

SQL queries from 1 connection

Templates (9 rendered)

Cache calls from 2 backends

Signals