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List Price: $14.96 | | Label: Warner Home Video
Salesrank: 3371
Released: August 3, 1999 |
| Our Price: $3.99 |
| Used Price: $1.85 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
A grieving widower and a lonely divorcee come together when she finds a message in a bottle on a Cape Cod beach that she knows was written by him.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 8-FEB-2005
Media Type: DVD
Description of Message in a Bottle (Snap Case):
If, as they say, you're in a certain mood, Message in a Bottle can be just the ticket. Based on Nicholas Sparks's bestselling novel, this handsome but overly calculated romance tale stars Robin Wright Penn as Theresa, a Chicago Tribune researcher who finds a note encased in a green bottle that has floated onto a Cape Cod shore. The message within is a heartfelt, yearning declaration of love to a woman named Catherine, but the author is unknown until Theresa (rather improbably) tracks him down in North Carolina. He's Garret Blake (Kevin Costner), a taciturn builder of sailboats and a grieving widower whose late wife, poetically speaking, was the intended recipient of the seafaring note Theresa found. Theresa, a divorcée with a son, decides to meet Garret, only to find him as bottled-up as his message. Nevertheless, a romance blooms on the strength of quality time in a sailboat and lots of cuddling, though the script tosses in bits of conflict to keep their relationship spicy. Directed by Luis Mandoki (When a Man Loves a Woman), this love story is entirely by the numbers, with Costner inhabiting (rather than performing) a stock fantasy of a man perfect in every way save his broken heart. Penn brings more vibrancy to her equally predictable part, but fortunately for all, Paul Newman, John Savage, Robbie Coltrane, and Illeana Douglas are on hand in nicely textured character parts. Sometimes predictability is exactly what one wants when settling in for an evening of home video, and this movie fits the bill nicely. The appealing cinematography is by ace cameraman Caleb Deschanel. --Tom Keogh
Message in a Bottle (Snap Case) Reviews:
Message in a Bottle 
2009-10-27 - This is a very emotional and good love story. Paul Newman and Kevin Costner do a superb job. Will watch again in the future.
Most romantic movie ever!
2009-09-11 - I loved this movie. Paul Newman, Kevin Costner and Robin Wright...you can't go wrong! This is easily the most romantic movie I've ever seen. As with the actors the scenary was aesthetically pleasing and makes me want to move to the Outer Banks.
bottled up 
2009-08-11 - This is a completely slushy movie which ought to be better. It has all the ingredients, but falls short. It may be that it is just too gussied up -- everything about it is picture postcardy and needed more roughness to really work. It is all too beautiful. It swoops and swirls and the music swells and the sea is photogenic, and the viewer is distanced from the story accordingly. Nevertheless, and in spite of what I just said, the best thing about it by far is Robin Wright Penn, who is completely gorgeous, and in one or two scenes is quite funny and charming (she needs way more of this kind of work). Kevin Costner has a pretty thankless task, and he gets no thanks -- he's dull, dull, dull. His beach house is way sexier than he is -- many would kill for his house. The sex scenes between the two of them are not sexy: there are two nice little scenes, one in a hotel, and one at her house in Chicago that suggest that something really human could have been made of their romance -- meanwhile the overt romance scenes are hopelessly dreary and contrived -- cuddling by a fire, cute dumpings in the water, etc, etc, etc. Please. The complicating factor in all this is that Paul Newman plays his father, and is far sexier than Costner. The director obviously worried about this, so he deliberately put in a scene where Newman says how old he is, and that if he were a hundred years younger she would be in trouble. In spite of this, there is a moment when one thinks that Paul and Robin should get together, now that the son is drowned.....
There is a mythological undercurrent to the story which also makes one suspect that the sweet young first wife drowns her husband for taking up with another woman. At least it is lovely to think so.
Message in a Bottle
2009-06-11 - I was completely pleased with this purchase. It was as described and arrived in a timely fashion.
One of my favorite movies
2009-06-05 - Wonderful movie. Even my husband enjoyed watching it. At one point though I cried so hard my cat ran out of the room.
