by Yazmin Ghonaim

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE Luis Mandoki (1999) In Message in a Bottle, director Luis Mandoki creates a tragic love story which begins and ends in the sea, the film's true protagonist and the vehicle through which all transcendental events take place. A journalist and divorced mother, Theresa Osborne (Robin Wright Penn) encounters a bottle which is half-buried in the beach. She finds a message inside it which tells of a man's grief for a lost love. The sincerity and emotion with which the letter is written captures the spirit of all that seems to be missing in Theresa's life and in her aimless career as a writer. Drawn by the qualities reflected in this love letter (and perhaps following her instinct as a curious journalist), Theresa sets out on a mission to find the source of the message in the bottle. What she finds is a bitter, middle-aged man (Kevin Costner as Garret Blake), his wise, witty and concerned father (Paul Newman), and the ghost of an unreconcilable love. Message in a Bottle encompasses the difficulties of loving passionately more than once. The film explores its characters' capacity to love and reconcile their passions with the natural forces of life and death.		DVD Music Books Search by keywords:
Outstanding Features: Character Development Message in a Bottle Movie Review © 1999 Cinephiles - All rights reserved.