I love chick flicks - the kind that require a whole box of Kleenex and the absence of any man who will roll his eyes at an on-screen kiss. Kevin Costner's top billing is the very first indication that Message in a Bottle is chick flick to the extreme.

Theresa Osbourne (played by The Princess Bride and Forrest Gump star Robin Wright Penn) is a Chicago newspaper researcher who finds a bottle at the edge of Lake Michigan. The bottle contains a love letter from a man to his wife, and it touches Theresa's heart. She sets out on a quest to find the man, finding two more messages that he had sent the same way.

Kevin Costner is Garrett Blake, boat builder and restoration expert, and - as Theresa eventually finds out - the author of the notes. The notes were indeed written to his wife, Catherine, who had passed away. Theresa and Garrett become close, but Catherine is always between them.

Both Wright Penn and Costner give touching performances, albeit way too serious. Even when they are supposed to be having fun, they seem too intense. Wright Penn gives Theresa a whiny, begging, needy quality that would definitely turn me off if I were Garrett - she's constantly begging him to stay, or begging him to understand why she was stalking him to find out who the man was that wrote the notes. Costner's Garrett is, as I mentioned, way too serious - and considering the movie is about him wasting away over his late wife, he gives in to Theresa way too easily.

Paul Newman is tossed in the movie, I am convinced, just to give older woman something to watch (as if Costner wasn't enough). He adds almost nothing to the movie as Dodge Blake, Garrett's father. We are told many times that he is a drinker, but that doesn't seem to change or is it ever explored.

Message in a Bottle is wonderful if you want a sensuous, weepy, girly movie with lots of nice scenery and romantic gestures. Many times, this is exactly what I want - and Message in a Bottle can definitely fill that order. Bring lots of tissues, and be prepared for an unexpected ending. Maybe...make that two boxes of tissues.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older