Message in a Bottle is a 1999 American romantic drama film directed by Luis Mandoki and based on Nicholas Sparks's novel Message in a Bottle. The film stars Kevin Costner, Robin Wright (under her then-married name Robin Wright Penn) and Paul Newman. It was filmed in Maine, Chicago and Wilmington, North Carolina.
The film follows Chicago Tribune writer-researcher Theresa Osborne, who seeks the writer of a letter inside a bottle then falls in love with its shipbuilder author.
The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on February 12, 1999. It was panned by the critics, but was a box-office hit, grossing $118 million against a $30 million budget.
Plot
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Former reporter Theresa Osborne works as a researcher for the Chicago Tribune. On a trip to Cape Cod, she finds a intriguing, typed love letter in a bottle in the sand, addressed to Catherine. Theresa is fascinated by it and shows it to her colleagues. They print it in their newspaper without Theresa's knowledge and receive a multitude of responses.
One of the letters contains an attached letter that was addressed to the same person, on the same letterhead and typed in the same tone. Later, they receive another letter of the same kind from one of the readers that was not addressed to Catherine, but was typed on the same stationery. Eventually, they track down the author with the help of the typewriter and the letterhead used. His name is Garrett Blake, and he lives quietly on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, near his father, Dodge. Catherine is Garrett's wife who died from cancer and he's having trouble dealing with her death which is why he wrote the message in a bottle.
Theresa goes to the Outer Banks to research it further, but when she meets him, they are mutually attracted and start becoming better acquainted. She tries to tell him about the original purpose of her visit but fears that she might lose him, so postpones it. Along with the literal distance between them — they live hundreds of miles apart — there is another problem: Garrett cannot quite forget the deceased Catherine.
Theresa's career flourishes as the romantic "message in a bottle" tale is told in print without naming names. Garrett makes a trip to Chicago to visit Theresa and her young son. They seem very happy together for a day, but when he finds his letters in her nightstand, he becomes upset and starts to leave.
When Theresa reveals that there are three letters of the same kind, he becomes intrigued, as he wrote only two of them so doubles back to see the other letter. The third, which in fact was not addressed to Catherine, was actually written by her. In it, she reveals her love, knowledge of her impending death, and how she was content with her life with Garrett, however short it might be. He departs with the letter, leaving Theresa in tears.
Garrett moves on with his life and sets things straight with Catherine's family, who had been battling with him for Catherine's artwork. He finishes his personalized boat with the help of Catherine's brother. He names it Catherine in her honor, and invites Theresa to its christening.
When Theresa arrives, she witnesses Garrett's passionate speech about Catherine. She understands that he is still in love with his late wife, so leaves. Theresa lets him know he is welcome to call her when he thinks that he is ready to start a new life.
After that night, Garrett writes a letter to Catherine, puts it in a bottle and goes sailing. A storm breaks out, and he heroically tries to save a family from their sinking boat. Garrett succeeds in saving two of the three. However, he drowns while trying to rescue the mother.
Dodge calls Theresa to inform her of Garrett's death. Heartbroken, she goes there to bid farewell. Dodge gives her the letter that Garrett had intended for Catherine, found on his boat. He wrote that he had found someone else; Theresa, who is as dear as Catherine to him. He had decided to start a new life with her so asks for Catherine's blessing.
Although devastated, Theresa returns home contented, stating that, although this experience left her in grief, it helped her to feel the most important thing in life.
Cast
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Production
Filming
The producers originally planned to film in Tangier, Virginia, but the Tangier town council voted against allowing it due to the drinking, swearing and sex in the script.
Warner Bros. tried Chilmark, Martha's Vineyard, but the Chilmark Conservation Commission turned down a request to build a temporary house on stilts in the dunes near Chilmark Pond.
Beach scenes were filmed at Popham Beach in Phippsburg, Maine. No filming was done at the Outer Banks (the setting of the novel). Metacritic reports a 39 out of 100 rating, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two stars out of four, praising the lead actors, particularly Newman, who "steals every scene he's in", but criticized the contrived ending.
Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter called it a "dreary, lachrymose and incredibly poky tear-jerker", but conceded that it had a built-in audience among those who put the book on the bestseller list.
Accolades
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Award !! Category !! Nominee(s) !! Result
|-
| 1999
| Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
| Worst Actor
| Kevin Costner
|
|-
| rowspan="5"| 2000
| rowspan="4"| Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
| Favorite Actor - Drama/Romance
| Kevin Costner
|
|-
| Favorite Actress - Drama/Romance
| Robin Wright
|
|-
| Favorite Supporting Actor - Drama/Romance
| Paul Newman
|
|-
| Favorite Supporting Actress - Drama/Romance
| Illeana Douglas
|
|-
| Golden Raspberry Awards
| Worst Actor
| Kevin Costner
|
|}
Home media
The film was released on VHS, LaserDisc and DVD on August 3, 1999.
See also
- Message in a bottle, about the history, nature and actual examples of bottled messages