THE AISLE SEAT - "MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE"

by Mike McGranaghan

Message in a Bottle left me completely stumped. Here's a movie that has many strong elements, yet keeps succumbing to predictability and lethargy. One minute I found myself completely swept away by its ideas of romantic yearning, and the next minute I was virtually yelling at the film to hurry up already! Later in the day, someone asked me what I thought of it. I had to give it some serious thought before answering.

Robin Wright Penn stars as Theresa, a Chicago newspaper writer who, while strolling along the shore, finds a washed-up bottle with a note inside. The note - a heartfelt work of sadness - was obviously written by a man to his deceased wife. Dizzied by the passionate tone of the note, Theresa decides to track down the man under the guise of "reporting." Using the research tools at her disposal, she discovers that the author of the letter was Garret Blake (Kevin Costner), a withdrawn boatsman in the Outer Banks. She pretends to be interested in his boat, but she's really interested in fishing. Fishing for information, that is. Before long, she begins a romance with him. He, of course, doesn't realize that their meeting was calculated.

Paul Newman co-stars as Costner's father. He likes this new woman ("If I was about a hundred years younger," he tells her, "you'd be in a lot of trouble.") and encourages his son to pursue her. The problem is that Garret still hasn't let go of his late wife's memory, which makes the new relationship somewhat tenuous. Things become even more complicated once Theresa's secret is revealed.

In many ways, Message in a Bottle has a real sweetness in its ideas of love and loss. The film says that it's possible to love someone new without surrendering the love for someone who's no longer here. At first, Garrett feels like he's betraying his beloved wife, but eventually he discovers that his heart is big enough to love both women. It's a beautiful message that certainly is affecting.

But the pace of the movie is so slow that I began to grow impatient at times. Message in a Bottle drags on for 2 1/4 hours; it would have been stronger with about 30 fewer minutes. The picture I was most reminded of was The Bridges of Madison County. Both are cinematic adaptations of schmaltzy best-sellers. Both are talky, as the characters analyze their relationship. The difference is that there seemed to be so much more going on in Bridges than there is here. That was a film where the emotions accumulated into a powerhouse ending. In contrast, Message in a Bottle takes very bland, predictable steps to its overly melodramatic conclusion. Nothing that happened in this story surprised me.

I enjoyed the performances from Wright Penn and especially Newman, who blows everyone else off the screen. Whenever he enters the frame, the movie jumps to life. In fact, I wish that his character had been the one romancing Theresa. It would've been more interesting that way. I also admit that there are some very good individual scenes, particularly those with Newman.

The sheer slowness of the movie irritated me too much to recommend it, though. I'm not adverse to sentimental movies. However, I am adverse to ones that just prolong the obvious. Message in a Bottle hit a few of the right notes with me, but never gained the momentum to really make much of an impact.

( 1/2 out of four)

Message in a Bottle is rated PG-13 for language and sexuality. The running time is 2 hours and 13 minutes.