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Message in a Bottle
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Message in a Bottle (1999) More at IMDbPro »

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Message in a Bottle (1999) -- A woman discovers a tragic love letter in a bottle on a beach, and is determined to track down its author.

Overview

User Rating:
5.5/10   11,601 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Luis Mandoki
Writers (WGA):
Nicholas Sparks (novel)
Gerald Di Pego (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Message in a Bottle on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
12 February 1999 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Romance more
Tagline:
A story of love lost and found.
Plot:
A woman discovers a tragic love letter in a bottle on a beach, and is determined to track down its author. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
5 nominations more
User Comments:
Allow yourself to enjoy the pace of the ocean in this romance. more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Kevin Costner ... Garret Blake

Robin Wright Penn ... Theresa Osborne

Paul Newman ... Dodge Blake

John Savage ... Johnny Land

Illeana Douglas ... Lina Paul

Robbie Coltrane ... Charlie Toschi

Jesse James ... Jason Osborne
Bethel Leslie ... Marta Land

Tom Aldredge ... Hank Land
Viveka Davis ... Alva

Raphael Sbarge ... Andy
Richard Hamilton ... Chet
Rosemary Murphy ... Helen at the B&B
Steven Eckholdt ... David Osborne
Susan Brightbill ... Catherine Land Blake
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for a scene of sexuality.
Runtime:
131 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS
Filming Locations:
Bath, Maine, USA more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
When Garret arrives at Theresa's apartment, the show playing on the TV that she turns off is "Perfect Strangers" (1986) The two main characters in that show worked at a Chicago newspaper, just as Theresa does. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Theresa and Garrett are standing on the beach after Garrett blesses the boat, Theresa's hair is alternately still/windswept between shots. more
Quotes:
Dodge Blake: If I was about 150 years younger, you'd be in trouble, young lady. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Hamlet (2000) more
Soundtrack:
No Mermaid more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
17 out of 23 people found the following comment useful:-
Allow yourself to enjoy the pace of the ocean in this romance., 14 February 1999
8/10
Author: John Stein from Columbus, OH USA

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.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Message in a Bottle (1999)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Lightning question...for geeks only. HowardBollixter
Costner too old for this part ! gremma
For those who've read the book too... Titanica19127136
favorite sparks novel/movie imagine85
i hate this movie :*( skaankalert
Why shot in Maine? johnfrayne
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