This is the movie that proves that most critics don't know what they're doing. The critics shed their sentimentalism sometime in the mid-1960's, so how could they know or care?

One must have a heart to enjoy "Message in a Bottle". It's a treasure--beautiful, poignant, tragic. The cast is wonderful, and if you don't cry at the ending, you aren't human (which most critics apparently aren't).

While strolling on a beach one day Robin Wright Penn finds a letter in a bottle. Back in the old days stranded sailors were known to send distress messages in such items in the hopes the letters would be found and they would be rescued.

But this bottle contains a message that's a beautifully composed love letter. Penn's been the odd woman out in a triangle that broke up her marriage and she's a naturally cynical creature. When she shows the letter to her boss editor/columnist Robbie Coltrane who prints it and writes an editorial in praise of it. It gets a really big response from folks touched by it.

A little forensic science determines the origin of the letter to be Wilmington, North Carolina and the author to be carpenter/shipbuilder Kevin Costner. A man with that kind of poetry in his soul is guaranteed to move even the once burned Robin Wright Penn.

Message In A Bottle is an old fashioned love story guaranteed to melt the most cynical of hearts. Also featured is Paul Newman who is Costner's father who has the wisest old head around. Hard to believe the guy who played Hombre and Cool Hand Luke is now playing wise elderly folks, but Paul Newman grew not just in age, but in expanding his once in a lifetime talent as well.

If you think you've seen all the romantic pictures there are and know how this one is coming out then you're in for a shock if you see Message In A Bottle. But it's a worthwhile experience nevertheless.

I love Nicholas Sparks's writing, so I was looking forward to Message in a Bottle, especially when the book was so good. And I was really touched by the film. While it is overlong, it looks beautiful with a beguiling soundtrack and a great cast, plus it resonated with me.

The characters may be clichéd, but I could say the same for the characters in the book and in all the other film adaptations based on his work. But being clichéd isn't necessarily a bad thing, when a character or film is written well it doesn't matter for me. The characters for me were engaging and likable, and the story is an emotional one, with a I think genuinely poignant ending.

The script does have a strong emotional core too, the pace was purposefully mannered but rarely boring and the whole movie is beautifully directed. Message in a Bottle looks beautiful, all the Sparks adaptations do but Message in a Bottle with its stunning coastal scenery gets my vote as the most visually beautiful. The soundtrack is soothing and very beguiling, and the acting is very good. Kevin Costner is good, Robin Wright Penn is perfectly enchanting with a gorgeous smile and eyes and Paul Newman the great actor he was is splendid with a more restrained method to his acting than his usual intense persona.

All in all, a really touching movie. 9/10 Bethany Cox