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.

Director:

Luis Mandoki

Writers:

Nicholas Sparks (novel), Gerald Di Pego (screenplay) (as Gerald DiPego)

Stars:

Kevin Costner, Robin Wright, Paul Newman

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin Costner	...	Garret
Robin Wright	...	Theresa (as Robin Wright Penn)
Paul Newman	...	Dodge
John Savage	...	Johnny Land
Illeana Douglas	...	Lina
Robbie Coltrane	...	Charlie
Jesse James	...	Jason
Bethel Leslie	...	Marta
Tom Aldredge	...	Hank
Viveka Davis	...	Alva
Raphael Sbarge	...	Andy
Richard Hamilton	...	Chet
Rosemary Murphy	...	Helen At The B&B
Steven Eckholdt	...	David
Susan Brightbill	...	Catherine

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

grief | bottle | letter | love | woman | 

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Taglines:

A story of love lost and found.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for a scene of sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official German Site (Tobis) Warner Bros.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 February 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mensaje de amor

Filming Locations:

Bath, Maine, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,751,560, 14 February 1999

Gross USA:

$52,880,016

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$118,880,016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bel Air Entertainment, DiNovi Pictures, Tig Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

When Theresa and Garrett are at Garret's house for the steak dinner, he offers to pour her a glass of wine, which she accepts, but then begins to walk around his house empty handed. All of a sudden, while exploring, a glass of wine appears in her hand.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jason Osborne: [disembarking] Where are they?
Theresa Osborne: Um... You know, they're probably just running late, they'll be here baby.
Jason Osborne: I see 'em. Daddy! Daddy!

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Crazy Credits

"Girl with lantern" painting by Helen Turner Greenville County Museum of Art

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Connections

Referenced in The Office: Lotto (2011)

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Soundtracks

I Will Know Your Love
Written by Beth Nielsen Chapman and Ann Roboff (as Annie Roboff)
Produced by Carmen Rizzo, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Ann Roboff (as Annie Roboff)
Performed by Beth Nielsen Chapman

User Reviews

Allow yourself to enjoy the pace of the ocean in this romance.

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.