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Message in a Bottle

Message in a Bottle

Romance · Drama · 1999

A woman finds a romantic letter in a bottle washed ashore and tracks down the author, a widowed shipbuilder whose wife died tragically early. As a deep and mutual attraction blossoms, the man struggles to make peace with his past so that he can move on and find happiness.

Movie details

Message in a Bottle

“A story of love lost and found.”

1999 Romance · Drama 2h 11m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

A woman finds a romantic letter in a bottle washed ashore and tracks down the author, a widowed shipbuilder whose wife died tragically early. As a deep and mutual attraction blossoms, the man struggles to make peace with his past so that he can move on and find happiness.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Message in a Bottle?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Luis Mandoki

Written by

Gerald Di Pego

Kevin Costner

Kevin Costner

Garrett Blake

Robin Wright

Robin Wright

Theresa Osborne

Paul Newman

Paul Newman

Dodge Blake

John Savage

John Savage

Johnny Land

Illeana Douglas

Illeana Douglas

Lina Paul

Robbie Coltrane

Robbie Coltrane

Charlie Toschi

Jesse James

Jesse James

Jason Osborne

Court is in session

Put Message in a Bottle on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.