Message in a Bottle (1999)

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

(Credit to CJ)A woman finds a romantic letter in a bottle washed ashore and tracks down the author, a widowed shipbuilder whose wife died tragically early. As a deep and mutual attraction blossoms, the man struggles to make peace with his past so that he can move on and find happiness. I'll watch anything with Kevin Costner. He gets a lot of criticism, but I think he's very talented. I've put this movie off for years because it didn't seem like my type of movie. I have a confession to make. I'm a guy, but actually a big romantic person. I like mushy stuff, if it's done correctly. This movie is the furthest thing from being done correctly. It was so boring that I couldn't finish it. The cinematography is gorgeous. The shots of the water in the opening on the beach are breathtaking. Everybody looks uncomfortable in this movie, except for Penn. She gives the best performance. Paul Newman deserved better. Costner tries hard, but is defeated by the crappy material. Even women may be bored by this movie!

SPOILER AHEAD.Imagine this scenario: You are a guy who just had great sex with a hot woman you met a little while back and that you really like, the beginning of a steamy relationship. While she gets cleaned up, you rifle through her stuff to find that you apparently did not meet her by chance as you had thought before, but that she had found some old love letters you wrote to a previous love of yours, and apparently was so taken by them that she tracked you down, romanced you, and, just a few minutes ago, screwed the living daylights out of you. Okay, imagine that? So here's the question: What would a guy in this situation do? If your answer is something like "get all emotional, pack his bags and run away in a huff", then you (a) are most likely a woman and (b) might like this movie.For everybody else who has just the faintest inkling of how men actually work (which somewhat surprisingly does not seem to include the apparently heterosexual male who authored this story, although there is always the possibility that he's just playing to his audience), this is just one cliché too far in a chic flick riddled with bad, bad romanticky stereotypes, super-corny acting, and dull by-the-numbers predictable storytelling.The one faint ray of light in this stinker is Paul Newman --- his role isn't a very big one, it isn't very well written, but he does with it what he can. It's not enough to make this worthwhile, though. Avoid.

The first time I saw this movie was about four years ago in the midnight at home. From then maybe I have watched ten times but never got bored or press forward button.It is a modern but at same time old love story between two lovely people. They live in their own worlds till the girl 'Teresa' (Robin Wright) finds a bottle by the seaside. From the first scene till the end I could not leave my eyes on her. Then I recognized I had seen her before from 'Forest Gump' and 'Last Castle' even she had just a little role in it. Anyway in this movie especially with the dress she wore at Garret's house (Kevin Costner) she was awesome, gorgeous. The house of Garret was so wonderful, a dream house. It is a home near the seaside. You may even listen the sound of waves from the kitchen. I won't tell so much about script of the movie. I am simply someone who is so affected of this movie. The sea, the waves, the yacht, the house, the girl...

This movie follows an all-too-predictable romance plot. In fact, the movie is all about its plot and not enough about what could have been fascinating characters and how they work with each other. But, no, it is a tired re-rendering of a tragic love story. Not worth the time it takes to watch.To save you time: She finds a message in a bottle, with some investigation finds the author of the note, meets him and his curmudgeonly father, falls in love, but fails to tell him about the note. He beds her, finds the note, gets annoyed, and leaves. She goes to find him, tries to reconcile, but it's too soon. He goes to get her but dies by accident. She is sad. The end.On the plus side, the performances from the cast was quite good, given the serious limitations of the script.