Message In A Bottle (1999)

This was the movie adaptation of a wildly popular romance novel by Nicholas Sparks. I read the book and found it to be very good. I even wrote the author a letter--which he responded to--to tell him how much I enjoyed it. I usually don't go for romantic novels, but that was one of the best. Unfortunately, as they say, the book was better than the movie.

The movie does follow the book, but only up to a point. A Chicago reporter named Theresa (Robin Wright Penn) finds a bottle with a message inside it while on vacation. The message is a beautiful love note to a woman named Catherine. Encouraged by her editor Charlie (Robbie Coltrane), she does some investigative work which leads her to North Carolina, and the writer of the note. Garret (Kevin Costner) she discovers, is a widower who has not gotten over the death of his wife. She gets to know Garret and his crusty dad (Paul Newman), but does not reveal her real reason for being.

Theresa, a divorcee, and Garret grow closer and begin a relationship, despite Garret not being able to give his heart fully. She invites him to Chicago, and after a romantic night, he finds the note he wrote to his late wife in Theresa's apartment by accident. This creates a rift between them. Will or will they not overcome the problem?

A subplot involving a grudge between Garret and his brother in law Johnny (John Savage) was not in the book. I kept wondering what purpose it served in the film. The ending was changed too, watering down the powerful impact it had in the book. Not as strong of a romantic film as it could have been.