Line #9 Film/MessageInABottle


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_0814_6.JPG]]
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3	A 1999 film directed by Luis Mandoki and starring Creator/KevinCostner, Creator/RobinWright, and Creator/PaulNewman.
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5	The story is a romantic drama about Theresa (Wright), a single mother who tries to move on after her divorce, and Garret (Costner), a man who cannot imagine entering a relationship after his wife Catherine died. Catherine's death has an impact on the lives of many people, inflaming the conflict between Garret, who is a shipwright, and her family, who had wanted her to become a famous painter and now blames the man for her untimely death. Unable to come to terms with himself, Garret writes a letter to Catherine, puts it into a bottle and throws out at sea. After Theresa accidentally finds the bottle, she begins a private investigation to find the author of the letter, feeling curious about the story behind it.
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7	It is notably the first film adaptation from author Creator/NicholasSparks, and began the trend of high profile Hollywood adaptations of his works that would last through the 2000s and 2010s.
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9	!!Tropes in this film include:
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11	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: For a long time, Theresa's love for Garret is this, but it is subtly implied that also [[spoiler:Charlie Taschi's love towards her]].
12	* AmicablyDivorced: Theresa and David - although their meetings are still a bit awkward.
13	* AnchoredShip: The reason of the film's dramatic mood.
14	* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Theresa towards Garret. It takes them some time to deal with the situation.
15	* BarBrawl: Between Garret and Catherine's brother in the diner.
16	* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Catherine and Garret grew up in the same town and later married.
17	* ComfortingComforter: The beginning of the complicated relationship between Theresa and Garret.
18	* CountryMouse: While in Chicago to visit Theresa, Garret is visibly nervous about riding the L train and seems [[CategorismAsAPhobia particularly eager to put as much distance as possible]] between himself and a black passenger.
19	* DearJohnLetter: An atypical example, as the addressee (Catherine) is dead and the author of the letter (Garret) is conscious about it.
20	* DivingSave: Garret, near the end of the film.
21	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Garret dies just after his decision to move on and enter the relationship with Theresa. She learns of it only from his last letter to Catherine, in which he tells her about his new love.]] This differs from the book, where [[spoiler:he chooses to not let go of Catherine's memory, and thereby lets go of Theresa]].
22	* DrowningMySorrows: Garret's father did this in the past, which makes him close to TheDrunkenSailor.
23	* DyingDeclarationOfLove: A double example. Garret addresses a letter to Catherine, wherein he tells her of his love for her one more time, but also of his new love for Theresa. He does not realize however that it is a dying declaration, only dying afterwards by accident.
24	* FallingInLoveMontage: It's the original Nicholas Sparks movie, of course there is one.
25	* FeudingFamilies: Garret has an intensely hostile relationship with Catherine's family, who blame him for her death.
26	* TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest
27	* ForeverFling: Theresa and Garrett meet and fall in love within a week. Theresa becomes immediately ready to be with Garrett permanently, but he hesitates due to lingering grief over his first wife, Catherine. [[spoiler:He does eventually decide to move on with Theresa but dies in an ocean storm before he can.]]
28	* GlamorousSingleMother: Theresa begins this way.
29	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Garret's death in the attempt to rescue the family lost at sea - although it's not in vain, as he does manage to save the father and daughter]].
30	* ILetGwenStacyDie: Garret and Catherine.
31	* IntertwinedFingers: Theresa and Garret share a tender moment that includes one of these.
32	* LostAtSea: During the climax of the film, a small family's boat becomes lost in the storm, with Garret mounting a rescue.
33	* TheLostLenore: The core element governing the plot is Garret's refusal to let go of his deceased wife Catherine.
34	* LostLoveMontage
35	* LoveBeforeFirstSight: Theresa. She begins obsessing over him following the discovery of one of his messages to Catherine, and later begins tracking down other messages he sent. She ends up tracking him down too. Later, after meeting him and beginning a tentative relationship, they quarrel, and it becomes apparent that for some time it may have been LovingAShadow.
36	* MessageInABottle: Obviously. Following Catherine's death, Garret wrote her her two love-letters, which he sealed in glass bottles and would hurl out into the sea. [[spoiler: Catherine also did this at least once before her death.]]
37	* TheMourningAfter: Garret experiences this feeling following a night with Theresa.
38	* ParentWithNewParamour: Jason must get used to David's partner and then to Garret.
39	* PoorCommunicationKills: Garret. Cathereine's death has led him to become something of a nearly silent recluse, and getting him to have any sort of long conversation is a struggle. His inability to speak his mind later has dramatic consequences.
40	* PuppyLove: Garret and Theresa's budding romance consists of nothing more intimate than one passionate kiss and a marshmallow fight on the beach.
41	* SecondLove: Both Garret and Theresa are this to one another.
42	* WithThisRing: The symbolic returning of the wedding ring.

Context Film / MessageInABottle