Mensaje de amor

How private is a message set afloat in a bottle? Not at all, according to this film. Finders keepers, and if it makes a good story, publish it on the front page of the daily press. Garret (Kevin Costner) loves Catherine beyond the grave, and being a boat-builder, with the sea at his doorstep, he sends messages to her in a sealed bottle. Theresa (Robin Wright Penn) relaxing by the sea finds a bottle protruding from the wet sand and is much impressed by the expressions of love in the romantic message. As a newspaper researcher she seeks out the author and predictably they fall in love. I think this film would largely appeal to women. The dialogue and the romantic situations are believable as the story slowly but steadily unfolds. The photography of the seascapes and sunsets is very appealing and the background music suitably romantic and never obtrusive. The acting throughout is very controlled. The shy Garret devoted to the memory of Catherine slowly changes as this new woman enters his life. Theresa still suffering from a broken marriage and still uncertain of her future is beautifully played as the message continues to weave its spell. Garret's crotchety old father is played with all stops out by Paul Newman - a rascally fellow with firm ideas about what is good for his son. There are a few noisy scenes in the film, and necessary, I think, because the overall tenor of the film is somewhat subdued with the two shy central characters. Not a great film by any means , but the story has a certain charm. I am sure we would all like to find a message in a bottle - much more exciting than receiving an E-mail - and I guaratee that, human nature being what it is, we'd read it too.

I can imagine liking this film a lot more than I did if the screenplay was given another pass. Sure the overall film is a melodrama built on cliches but Costner, Penn work well together. The overall vibe of the film is pretty much what you would expect. Newman is especially endearing as the crusty father figure. The ocean side scenery is quite nice for escapist fluff. Unfortunately, the final plotting is *terrible.*

The climax as not real connection-in terms of characters or ideas present in the story-to anything that occurs prior to it. It is likea duex ex machina only that it randomly complicates the plot instead of resolves it. It feels so very forced; a mere mechanical device to stick the story with a downer of an ending. This could have been something more.

Message in A Bottle packages the strength of a love story about finding love again, with the breathtaking beauty of the sea, and seasoned actors who make endearing characters come alive to bring an unforgettable romance to the screen.

It reminisces of "Bridges of Madison County" but with a stronger and more real-life appeal. Theresa Osborne (Robin Wright Penn) is from the city, quite happy in her work as a Chicago Tribune researcher, and as a mother to Jason. But in her moments alone, she has to deal with the reality of her husband leaving her for another woman, sometimes forced to face the two of them and their own toddler when she brings Jason to visit with him. Garret Blake (Kevin Costner) restores sailboats in a seaside town, he looks after his father Dodge (Paul Newman), and keeps a shrine for his wife Catherine in his house, even after her death 2 years ago. He has left every brush, oil, pastel crayon and easel where it was as when she died. It was through the letter he wrote to Catherine which Theresa found in a bottle at the beach that brought him and Theresa together.

I thought the development of the story was fast paced at the start, when the mystery of the letter sender was quickly revealed in the first quarter of the movie that I wondered what was to be expected to happen for the rest of the story. And after that initial, exciting build-up leading to the meeting of Garret and Theresa, the pace slackened - a bit too slow for my taste as the pair discovers their attraction. What added relief to the intense, romantic, but sometimes, dragging moments is the appearance now and then of Paul Newman's character Dodge. Dodge has his own hurts to heal, but his stubbornness not to let Garret go through the same path he did, and his curt but witty remarks brings out laughter and makes him truly endearing. One notable scene is in the diner when he flared up when asked why he chose a particular seat. The romantic scenes are also complimented by the scenery. The glorious backdrop of the sea - you'll almost feel relaxed as you hear the breeze rustling the leaves, the lapping of the waves on the shore and the cry of the seagulls.

Kevin Costner as Garret could have done better. He convinces us that Garret is a simple unassuming man, but I was hoping to see the same man who wrote with such sensitivity and passion to his wife and I just couldn't find it in Kevin. Robin Wright Penn however, is very inspiring. She shows you just what it is like to fall in love in these times. She shows both the vulnerability and the strength of which Theresa is made of. She draws the viewers into feeling for her - her courage to go into something so unsure, her excitement, her joy in letting go and loving again, and then, her fear of expecting too much.

Another character who brings comic relief is Theresa's editor Charlie. Robbie Coltrane couldn't be more perfect for the role. He leaves the audience on guard, wondering if he is really the big bully which he seems to be or someone with a soft heart. Anyway, I end up laughing at his antics whenever he comes on screen. Best scene is when he gave Theresa a framed picture of himself. In all of the movie, I think it is Charlie who is the most unreal, as I find it hard to believe that there could be editors who are genuinely caring for their staff in this way.

Perhaps it is also the script that adds to the magic of the story - the dialogue was written so cleverly and the scenes made just so that I can say, hey, this is real life, this is what everyday people say and feel and think. No false pretensions. You will especially be drawn to it if you were broken yourself. You will recognize the same words that you said and the same odd things that you did and only you understand that is right. You will also not miss the glaring contrast of the two lifestyles - Garret in slickers, literally smelling of grease and sea salt in his beach home; and Theresa in her power suits, in a modular office and a sea of computers. How they are able to bridge this difference gives me hope. I'm not really sure myself if this kind of relationship will work, but who knows what can happen if we really try?

The message of love in Message in a Bottle is courage. To go on, in spite of, despite of. In spite of the hurt in the past, in spite of the uncertainty of the future. There will be others who have been broken too and their courage will inspire and sustain you.

This is the movie that proves that most critics don't know what they're doing. The critics shed their sentimentalism sometime in the mid-1960's, so how could they know or care?

One must have a heart to enjoy "Message in a Bottle". It's a treasure--beautiful, poignant, tragic. The cast is wonderful, and if you don't cry at the ending, you aren't human (which most critics apparently aren't).

The pace is set from the opening scene: the ocean with its consistent but gentle force splashing against the shore. `Message in a Bottle' follows this leisurely pace; it is not in a real hurry to give up all its secrets, but like the ocean, will surrender all in good time. So relax, and allow yourself to enjoy!

Paul Newman (Dodge Blake) and Kevin Costner (Garrett Blake) both deliver strong performances as father and son, initially content, though not really happy in their current existence. Both have lost their love, for one reason or another, and are each other's companion and support. Newman gets the fun punch lines, Costner gets the woman. `If I were about 150 years younger' starts one of Newman's lines – it must be different for him not to play the leading role. Costner seems right at home playing a ship-building sailor who is lost because of his lost love.

Robin Wright (Theresa Osborne) is equally strong, playing an independent and patient reporter, who follows her heart, and decides to find the author of the love letters from the ocean. She gives Garrett distance gently when he needs it, yet pushes back equally hard when she needs to.

Much of the acting relied not so much on the delivery of lines, as on the body language, on looks, on the strained silence between a couple who is unsure of each other, often unsure of themselves, yet strongly attracted to each other.

Both Garrett and Theresa seem to struggle at conversation, both uncertain of how to discover each other, yet each finding an attraction they can't seem to deny. Garrett is hanging on to the love he still feels for his wife, who died too early. Theresa is still recovering from a divorce, and the busy life of a single parent. Neither is sure they can be open to a new relationship, nor are they ready to say goodbye to something that is starting to feel so right.

The photography of the sailboats on the ocean were enough to bring out the romantic in me. What could be a more peaceful setting than a sailboat anchored privately in a small cove of the ocean in the Outer Banks?. We're given just enough peek into the unfolding world of a couple discovering love, without it feeling like an intrusion.

To talk more of the ups and downs would give away too many of the secrets that only the theatre, the bookstore, or the ocean will release.