Genres

Visitors Review

2013-05-22 06:20:30

Beautiful scenery, interesting premise, but.......

What starts as an intesting idea becomes fairly predictable..... When will he find out?.....How mad will he be???... Will he forgive?.... However, the later scene with Costner in the boat upon the stormy sea is of the quality one would expect from All My Children. The ending ruined what was a harmless, enjoyable film

Mask-of-Santo 2013-05-21 20:32:12

Good movie

This is a good movie. It is a tragic love story. But worth watching all thesame. Although the plot is weak, the inner threads are strong and the end isnot what we expect. This is what makes the movie worth watching after all.Kevin Costner is often seen in what seems to be his favourite environment -water.

2013-05-20 03:17:42

Nice but...

The story is so nice, Kevin Costner as so good and the movie as a whole is worth watching but...What I did not like about this movie is the actress Robin Wright, I wish Julia Roberts played this role instead of Robin. Robin acting, looks nor expressions are suitable for this film!Plus the movie gets a little bit boaring in the middle...But still it is a good movie... I LOVED THE STORY!

Nicholas Rhodes 2013-05-19 11:32:58

One of the Ultimate Love Stories - needs repeated viewings !

In the year 2005, this film is about 6 years old. I have had the DVDfor a while and watched the film several times before now deciding towrite and appreciation of it on IMDb. My conclusion after repeatedviewings is that this film is one of THE most romantic films made inthe present day. Not crude, vulgar and boring sex scenes, but reallove, real passion, complicity, awkwardness of people to show theirlove but LOVE without the shadow of a doubt !I used to think the film was too slow, with time I now find that thisis not the case, of course the haunting theme music and thoughtfulfilming of coastal scenes made an impression on me from the outset buton my first viewing it did seem to drag a bit and appear overlong. Inow change my appreciation of that point. Paul Newman's role is funnyand touching and he really is an integral part of the film, RobinWright was absolutely perfect ( I'm not usually in to tall lankyblondes but make an exception in this case !! ) - her composition wasabsolutely perfect and Iloved her accent which, for me at least, seemto have just the right tone for a lady in love. As to Kevin Costner, Ido wish he could have been a little more aggressively passionate attimes to respond to Robin Wright, but this criticism seems to diminishthe more I watch it.Nowadays snobbish cinema critics consider a film is not good if it hasa happy ending and therefore by definition a good film would need tohave a bad ending. Too many people criticise the "candy coated" endingto films. Well, why shouldn't they have a happy ending, there'sabsolutely nothing wrong with that and I consider that kind of filmcritic to be an inverted snob ! Whatever the ending of "Message in aBottle" ( I will not speak of it here ), this is truly a very goodfilm. If the evolution of my own appreciation is anything to go by Ithink that with time the film will GROW in importance and stature, justlike certain films considered uninteresting at the time of their issueare now considered as veritable masterpieces. This is one of those.Take your time to watch it, stock up with Kleenex (no, it's not a joke)feel the emotion exuded by the players, watch it again and again, youwill not come out unscathed emotionally !

bsinc 2013-05-19 11:03:20

For One viewing only

I was actually expecting a movie the likes of Costner' s "The Postman", onlywithout the 5 minutes of action. I was actually quite wrong. "Message in a bottle" is far from Costner' susual work (JFK, Robin hood and The untouchables excluded)and is actuallywatchable. It is extremely slow paced, but once I fell into the atmosphereit was fairly enjoyable. The way it cunningly and successfully manipulates with the viewer' semotions is worth a praise as well as a criticism. I couldn't help but feelthat everything I felt was just cleverly put into my head because the moviewas made in that way. You're probably thinking ????, and I completelyunderstand, but I like to feel a movie on my own, without the help ofothers, and the moment this movie ended I completely lost all I felt duringthose cleverly concocted dialogues. On a regular basis(e.g. "City ofangels"), considering this is a very sad movie, I'd probably be bummed outfor the rest of the day. But I felt nothing. To see this movie again would be a waste of time, but it is very well madeand the scene between father and son right before Costner writes the finalletter is quite touching. 8/10

hillari 2013-05-18 16:11:55

The book was better!

I read the book first, and was disappointed in how the movie turned out. The novel was extremely touching, and told equally from both of the maincharacter's perspectives. In the film, the emphasis is placed more onGarrett's character, and even then, the story doesn't get deep enough intohis heartbreak over his wife's death. The subplot about a disagreementbetween Garrett and his late wife's family didn't exist in the book, andadds nothing to the movie. Message In A Bottle should have had a lush,intense romantic feel about it, but it came up short.

Larkin-2 2013-05-16 18:36:41

Wonderful chick flick

"Although this movie tends to drag andsuffers from melancholy, I did enjoy watching Kevin Costner. Whilethe movie was pleasant enough, the book iscertainly much better." This is what a good friend of mine saidabout the movie. This is what I have to say aboutit. The actors had no drive whatsoever, thescreenplay was just bad, the sets looked fake, and there was hardlyany talk in it. I found it to be very boring anddull. The end gets to be a lot better, and sodoes Robin Write Penn's acting. I thought the only really good actor in itwas Paul Newman. He was very funny, and was right to thepoint. Two movies that reminded me of this one(which were much better than this keep in mind) were, Up Closeand Personal, and To Gillian on her 37thBirthday (Both Michelle Pfeiffer movies). I don't recommend this movie to any guy,or young teenager. But it's probably more of a movie for anolder middle-aged woman.

2013-05-16 06:35:05

poignant

Bittersweet tale of true love. It's about how a widower cannot let go of the memory of his dead wife, even though he has fallen in love again. Kevin Costner underplays his role but competently. Robin Wright is good as the second woman in his life. She has a very mobile, expressive face & a lovely smile. The end is v.poignant - maybe not what the box office would want but I think it is the end which lifts this movie from the cliche'd romantic films one comes across every week. Paul Newman as Costner's father is excellent. It is also a story of the sea, the sea that claims all those it loves.

2013-05-16 02:59:18

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

This review is from: Message in a Bottle (Amazon Instant Video) Great! Definately worth getting. But, make sure you have the box of Kleenex need by. I thought Kevin Costner was acceptional in this and throw in alittle Paul Newman, what is there not to like?

andycheng211 2013-05-15 10:17:55

Good

When I saw this movie, I thought it was good, but not great. There wasn'tany chemistry between the main characters. I read the book, too. Ithoughtthe book was better. The plot in the book seemed more exciting than theonein the movie. I still liked the movie, but I wasn't crazy about it. Iwould recommend you to read the book.

Iambatfan 2013-05-13 19:45:35

Worst book adaptation I have ever seen

I consider myself a huge movie fan and I rarely see movies I do not like.But when I saw this movie after reading the book I was so shocked at howdifferent they were that I actually started making a list of all thedifferences. I understand that sometimes changes are necessary for anadaptation, but there were too many changes made. I strongly suggest youdonot see this movie but if you do, pay more attention to the acting becauseit was just fine. Paul Newman, Kevin Costner, and Robin Wright Penn allcaptured the essences and spirits of their characters. They are the onlything good about this movie. The book is SOOOO much better. It would bemore worth your time to read the book than see the movie.

Atreyu_II 2013-05-13 08:34:33

Inspired in one of the finest romantic novels... which works and doesn't work out at the same time

"Message in a Bottle" is one of the most beautiful and intense romanticnovels ever written. It is a favorite of mine, not only for a NicholasSparks's book, but also for the genre itself. "Message in a Bottle" isa wonderful book, together with "The Notebook" (another brilliantromance).Of course that, as an assumed fan of the book, I had to write somethingabout this movie and that is precisely what I'm gonna do now.This is one of those cases which the movie isn't as good as the novel.I used to like this movie better than nowadays, perhaps because I knewit before the novel. However, after reading the novel, my point of viewabout this movie began to change a bit.The movie is not bad. Far from that. What happens is that the movie isclearly more incomplete comparing with the book and that's exactly herewhere the movie fails. I'm not the kind of person to list thedifferences between a movie and a book one by one, so all I can say isthat the movie is romantic, emotional and dramatic, while the book isnot only much more complete but also more intense, more beautiful, moreenchanting, more romantic, more emotional and more dramatic. Perhapsthat's why this movie is so dramatically underrated. I can sort ofunderstand why people in general don't like the movie as much as thebook, but many people also talk about this as if it was terrible, whichis so not true.If the movie isn't as excellent as the book, on the other hand themovie has its good side too. For example, it shows us some beautifullandscapes, wonders of nature and details, such as sunrises, sunsets,seas, lakes, wind, beaches, green places, sailing boats, etc...About the actors, Robin Wright Penn was very good looking in this movieas Theresa Osborne. Kevin Costner has one of his best performances androles here as Garret Blake. Paul Newman, on the other hand, plays Dodge(the same name of a car's make), Garret's father, a serious butsimultaneously funny guy with a very particular sense of humor. This isPaul Newman's best role after the voice of Doc Hudson in Disney/Pixaranimated movie "Cars".

PeepingThoughts 2013-05-11 05:34:43

a heart-warming tear jerker

This is an ideal movie to watch with your closest loved ones. Inever read the book but I feel the movie did a excellent job incapturing a range of emotions in one fat film. I was practicallymesmerized with the whole story of a couple who were possiblybrought together under so-called fatefully strangecircumstances.

cinemel 2013-05-10 12:19:35

Slow moving love story

Paul Newman still has it. When he is on the screen you know the story willcome to life. But that's it. The rest of the tale drags along interminably.Robin Wright Penn tries her best, but her scenes with Kevin Costner have nochemistry. The sequences with Penn and her co-workers have more interestthan the main story line. So if you are a fan of Mr. Newman, there issomething for you here. Otherwise, rent a good Paul Newmanvideo.

2013-05-09 04:56:06

"Jackets like that don't come along every week, you know..."

Message in a Bottle, brings to the screen the love story between a recently widowed man from a small fishing village in North Carolina and a divorced journalist out of Chicago.It is a film about human relations, hope and second chances, but most importantly about trust, love, and inner strength. Kevin Costner, Robin Wright Penn, Paul Newman, and the rest of the cast, have truly outdone themselves with their performances, which are exceptional to say the least! All the actors, without exceptions, give it their 100% and it really shows (the chemistry is AMAZING)! Very well written and very well presented, the movie is without a doubt guaranteed to provide a few laughs, not to mention a few tears. The film is simple enough, but does a great job of describing people's every day lives and the problems they face. It just goes to show that simplicity is often far better than complexity, when trying to present issues of a human nature. The only setbacks are in relation to some weak lines that Robbie Coltrane's character has to say, and also in relation to the little boy; is there really any reason why the boy has to look like a girl??? The setting, the plot, the dialogues and the music are all wonderful!In short, Message in a Bottle is a movie definitely worth watching and one to seriously consider adding to your movie collection! 4½ Stars

dementos 2013-05-09 00:58:43

Almost made me cry - out of sheer boredom!

I must admit that I didn't expect much from this movie. I was prepared forthe worst, so to speak. But even those low expectations were notmet.The only feeling that movie provoked in me was anger. Anger about apredictable, inconvincible, shallow story. And anger about the fact thatthey had to stretch out that terrible story well over twohours.This must be the most boring movie I have seen in the last few years.Seriously.

2013-05-07 11:44:23

Lovely

I'd like very much to see it again and 4 sure I'll do 'cause is a wonderfull movie which has a beautifull story and atmosphere. It makes you feel like you are in another world, very romantic, but also sad.For me, this movie is very special also because I've seen it in one of the most romantic places in the world: Paris.

2013-05-06 15:09:01

very very good movie, if you love your wife see it.

movie shows what most men feel in their hearts for the one they love, but can't find a way to say it to them.

JoeytheBrit 2013-05-05 17:54:53

Mills and Boon with elevated production values.

Robin Wright Penn is a researcher for a newspaper who comes across amessage in a bottle while jogging on the beach. The message is abeautifully written Mills and Boon type love message to a dead woman.Intrigued, Ms Penn uses the newspaper's resources to track down thewriter of the message and travels to his hometown to discover he's anemotionally-wounded boat-building hunk in the shape of Kevin Costner. Atentative romance begins, but it's overshadowed by the fact that sheneglects to reveal how she found him in the first place.This is the kind of slushy romantic melodrama Hollywood was producingon an almost weekly basis back in the 1940s. You could just see, say,Ronald Colman and Claudette Colbert in the Penn and Costner roles here.While a throwback to the golden age of Hollywood movie-making isn'tnecessarily a bad thing, what does shackle an otherwise acceptablestory is a sluggish pace and unnecessary sub-plots that serve only totest the audience's patience. While some have criticised KevinCostner's performance, I think he does fairly well by a character thatis supposed to be dour and awkward around people. Penn gives anappealing performance, but it's Paul Newman as Costner's crusty old dadwho gets all the best lines and effortlessly steals the film from thetwo leads.Had the direction been tighter and a few superfluous scenes beenjettisoned – that sub-plot with Costner's ex-wife's family, forexample, and a couple of those excruciating scenes in Penn's apartmentwhere they laugh nervously at each other for what seems forever – thefilm would have worked a whole lot better for me. It would still havebeen little more than a typical Mills and Boon tale with elevatedproduction values, but it would at least have been more entertaining.

Gordon Ondis 2013-05-05 05:08:56

A more interesting than usual romance flick with strong performances by Robin Wright Penn and Paul Newman.

A lonely newspaper correspondent tracks down the sender of apoignant message in a bottle. Newman is great, as is Penn, butcan Kevin Costner find a new role? The strong, yet taciturn manwith a hidden past needs a new twist, already. Worth seeing,well written.