Sad "Message"
Kevin Costner, Robin Wright Penn, and Paul Newman star in a bittersweet romantic movie based on Nicolas Sparks' bestseller, "Message in a Bottle." The opening scene is of the water, smooth and uncomplicated. Then the sea gleams like diamonds in the sunlight and finally the pure force of this mysterious entity crashes over rocks. One is calmed and lured, mesmerized really, before the first word is uttered. Robin Wright Penn plays Theresa Osborne, a single mother who quietly jogs through life caring for her young son while working as a researcher at the Chicago Tribune. Wright Penn could have played this part without speaking. She has the ability to speak with expressions that relay easily understood emotions. In a matter of seconds the life Theresa had with her first husband crashed all around her. She is primarily going through the motions of living when the movie begins. On a lonely sojourn to the sea while her son, Jason, visits with his dad, Theresa finds a corked bottle washed up on shore. Inside the bottle is a carefully rolled and tied scroll. Theresa stands on a deserted beach touching the scroll lightly before opening and reading the typed words. The words of love, passion, remorse, and sorrow sparkle like diamonds in Theresa's solitary existence. She sees the soul of the man who wrote this message. Theresa takes the message back to work and begins a search for the author. Her search carries her to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to a sailboat builder who lives a simple life by the sea. Kevin Costner plays Garret Blake, the author of the note. Garret, a widower of two years, is tortured by the death of his wife, Catherine. Theresa finds Garret's rustic cabin by the sea and runs into Dodge, Blake's father, played by Paul Newman. Newman's first scene establishes Dodge's personality as fun-loving yet somehow troubled over his son.
The grief-laden pit that Garret finds himself in creates gut-wrenching scenes. Catherine's paintings along with her art pencils and even her shoes are all in the same spot where she left them, not in a closed-off room, but out in the open. Catherine's presence is alive even though her physical form is gone. A romantic heart wants to know about the good parts. The parts of the movie that make you think, "Oh my." This movie displays the scars of lost love. The underlying hurt of broken hearts makes the lighter scenes of frolicking between Theresa and Garret particularly sweet. In one scene Theresa, who has come to dinner at Garret's home, falls asleep on his sofa. Garret is asleep in his bed. Theresa wakes, walks into Garret's bedroom, and climbs into bed with him. It is a tender time in the movie. Two familiar and lonely souls come together to keep one another warm. "Oh my." "Message in a Bottle" is about love and courage.
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