Message In A Bottle [VHS] [1999]

As the old saying goes, what doesn't find us in life as fate, will find us in destiny.

This film deals with the complexity of grief very well and anyone who has loved will empathize with the 2 central characters in this film. You really give a toss for the characters because their traits are so familiar to us all when it comes to dealing with relationships and not wanting to fall in love because of the pain it can cause..... so heres the story in a nutshell.

Theresa (played by Robin Wright Penn ) is out jogging on a beach one morning and finds a bottle embedded in the sand, in the bottle contains a heartbreaking letter of someone who knows his partner is about to die, Theresa is so infatuated by the heart wrenching contents and poetry in the mans letter she dedicates all her time into finding him and when she does a love story develops and if I go any further I'll spoil it for you.

Now I'm a man and love Boys movies and hadnt cried in 3 years until I watched this film , its THE most beautiful coherent and honest love story told, without pulling any punches, no meaningless sweaty love scenes or whipped cream flying around, just an epic tale of romance , great characterizations, consumate acting from Kevin Costner, Paul Newman (very underplayed and moving) and Robin Penn all very good.

If you like films in the shape of 'City Of Angels', 'The English Patient' , 'Beaches', Terms Of Endearment etc this will be in your collection I must commend Gabriel Yareds moving score for this film its almost as good as the one for City of Angels and it will be in your CD drive for ages.

If you like any sort of romantic film then this is deffinately for you. It's a classic !

It is an extremely tender story. Kevin Costner plays the grieving husband. He cannot get over or let go of the memory of his late wife - whom he loved so deeply. His life is full of memories of her and her possessions - which never allow him to move on. Love enters his life - through his touching 'message in a bottle', but he is unable/unwilling to accept it into his life. There is a scene in the film where Kevin Costner turns to his new love - obviously in great mental anguish and says 'I don't want to loose you' - and his new love looks at him hurt and frustrated and says - well then don't - it is so heart-wrenching. You can literally feel both of their pain and frustrations. She loves him, but cannot get close to him, and he loves her but cannot allow her in.

Kevin Costner gave an outstanding performance in this film. He made his pain and inner torment seem so real. As the story unfolds, he slowly begins to let his guard down to possibly accept love into his life. So we have a happy ending? - Maybe not! I cannot believe the ending to this day. I am still numb with shock. I will not spoil it for you - but I found the ending a total shock.

This is a tear-jerker film. But one that is so touching I would still recommend it to be watched. The soundtrack is gorgeous also.