Romance
and fate have been themes in film as far back as I can remember. Within the last
ten years, we've seen When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless In Seattle, and You've Got
Mail--all lighthearted and similar in nature. Enter Message In A Bottle, a new
film from director Luis Mandoki (When A Man Loves A Woman) with a more serious
approach to the romance genre.
Kevin
Costner plays a lonely man who writes love letters to his deceased wife, bottles
them, and then throws them into the ocean. Robin Wright Penn (Forrest Gump, The
Princess Bride) is a busybody journalist who finds one of the letters while jogging
on the beach. She immediately becomes drawn to the author of the mysterious note.
The
film is about love, hope, and fate and most of the time transcends standard melodrama
by offering stellar performances, particularly from Wright Penn and the ever-so-graceful
Paul Newman, as Costner's father. Mandoki has a great visual eye; but, the film
lacks the sheer dramatic power of his last one. Costner rebounds nicely from the
disastrous Postman with a solid performance that should keep his career afloat.
This
is a pretty good date movie and does a good job laying on the romance. This movie
also proves that you can get mail, but the best way is to get it in a bottle.
