Tear-jerker Ends With a Thud!

by Jason R. Hewlett

Okay, maybe I gave something away just now. It's not fair to say that the movie ends with a "thud!" before I even give my review. I won't say just what does happen at the end of "Message In A Bottle" but I do feel that I should warn people. In film school we learned that the most important part of a movie is the ending, as it is the last thing that the audience sees before they walk out of the theater. Therefor, it leaves the biggest impression on the audience (as a rule anyway). I was enjoying "Message In A Bottle" (much to my surprise) up until the final act and then it went from being a pretty believable romance to a cardboard Hollywood flick and I left a bit disappointed.

The story behind the film is no secret: Theresa (played by Robin Wright Penn) finds a deeply moving message, that only a screenwriter could compose, in a bottle while jogging on a beach. She is deeply moved (no surprise there) by the message, which was written by someone known only as "G" to his beloved Catherine, and decides to track down who wrote it. As she is a researcher for the Chicago Tribune she is pretty well trained to do such a thing. This part of the film was quite interesting to me. It didn't go on long enough in my mind because the next thing we know she's found "G," who turns out to be Kevin Costner. Luckily the inevitable romance that follows is actually pretty entertaining up until the "designed to leave you bawling your eyes out" finale that worked on most people but left me (as usual because I find most endings like this so forced it hurts) cold. Maybe I'm just to cynical.

Why did I enjoy the romance? It wasn't because I thought Costner and Wright Penn were the perfect couple. True, they have a few good scenes together but overall I felt they lacked that necessary spark that is essential for all real and reel romances to work. They simply went through what screenwriter Gerald DiPego and novelist Nicholas Sparks told them to do. Luckily, though, what they told them to do was pretty believable. These two people (both bright) don't just jump into bed with each other and bump nasties right away. We see a courtship, nervousness, awkwardness, and tenderness that eventually leads to a love scene. It felt real enough to me in that sense and I could even relate to it a little bit.

There is a subplot in the film where the family of Costner's late wife blame him for her death and of course Costner has great pain over it himself. This is all standard formula stuff but it works to an extent. There wouldn't have been a film without it really so it's acceptable on that level. Cosnter also has a fun relationship with his dad (played by the great Paul Newman). They bicker and carry-on like most father-sons do and it's nice to watch.

Not too bad a film. Could of been better if they didn't try to force us to cry at the end.

5 out of 10!