Message in a Bottle MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +2 1/2 Content: -2

If serious drama featuring characters with deeply felt emotions is your cup of tea, MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE is the movie for you. Two persons in very different parts of the country have suffered greatly from losing their spouses. Perhaps Garrett Blake (Kevin Costner) hurts the most because his beloved wife, Catherine, has died and left him very lonely in a small coastal town in North Carolina. He only has his father(Paul Newman) to console and support him. Far away in Chicago , the husband of Theresa Osborne (Robin Wright Penn) has left her for another woman and Theresa now fills her life with work on a newspaper and caring for her young son. But one cloudy day Theresa finds an empty bottle on a lake shore with a note in it from Garrett to his deceased wife. Theresa is so moved by the heart felt sorrow and love which Garret still feels for Catherine that she travels to his North Carolina beach home to meet him. It's not long before they begin feeling very deeply for each other, although Garrett cannot seem to overcome his lingering love for Catherine. How their relationship develops is a heartwarming story of romance, caring, adventure and even more sorrow. Costner, Penn and Newman give outstanding perfomances, but the public response to this film may be lessened somewhat by its melancoly tone. The lead characters in this moving drama are caring persons who love their spouses and families. Garrett's dad does whatever he can to help his son overcome his sorrow, and Theresa is a hard working single mom devoting her life to her son. Garrett is a quiet man with deep feelings and concern for others. On a sailing trip, he risks his life in a herioc effort to save a family aboard a small ship in a severe storm. He even manages to overcome a strong anatagonism which has developed between himself and his wife's parents. Yet, Garrett and Theresa do not hesitate to become sexually involved, as implied by a prolonged caressing scene in Theresa's bedroom. But no nudity is shown. And in moments of anger, some of the characters spew out a number of crudities, obscenities and profanities . As in many other films, Hollywood has severly damaged the decency of this heartwarming drama with much foul language and condoned pre-marital sex.

Preview Reviewer: John Evans
Distributor: Warner Brothers, 4000 Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA 91522