Disclaimer: Unfortunately, writing about why certain movies move me the way they do without actually giving away the ending is not an easy task. And since none of my favorite movies are currently in theaters, I plan to talk about endings when the situation warrants it. I'll experiment with using a green font when speaking about the ending though—so if you've never seen one of these movies, but would like to after reading one of these posts, you'll know to stop reading when you see green wording.
#8: Message in a Bottle starring Kevin Costner (as Garret), Robin Wright Penn (as Theresa), and Paul Newman (as Dodge). Released in 1999.
Here's a blurb about the movie from WarnerBrothers.com: "Grieving widower Garret Blake builds boats for a living. Rebuilding his life—that's another matter. But that's before Theresa Osborne comes to his North Carolina village. Theresa, a lonely divorcee and researcher for the Chicago Tribune, knows that Garret is the author of the message she found inside a bottle on a Cape Code beach. And she knows the message spoke to her in away that profoundly touched her heart."
Yes, I have two movies in a row on my list that are based on Nichols Sparks' novels. I picked up the novel version of this particular story in a grocery store at the end of 1999. It was my first exposure to Nicholas Sparks. I've since bought every novel he's ever written—and I've read them all. Yes, he overuses adverbs. And yes, he tells sappy love stories. But his stories are so much more than that. They are anything but typical cookie-cutter chick-flicks.
Message in a Bottle (the movie) starts out with a shot of the sea carrying a message in a bottle that a man named Garret wrote to his now deceased wife. A woman named Theresa finds it while jogging on the beach. She opens the bottle and reads this:
Dear Catherine,
I'm sorry I haven't talked to you in a so long. I feel like I've been lost, no bearings, a little crazy, I guess. I've never been lost before. You were my true north. I could always steer for home when you were my home.
Forgive me for being so angry when you left. I still think some mistake's been made and I'm waiting for God to take it back. But I'm doing better now. The work helps me. Most of all, you help me. You came into my dream last night with that smile of yours that always held me like a lover, rocked me like a child. All I remember from the dream is a feeling of peace. I woke up with that feeling and tried to keep it alive as long as I could. I'm writing to tell you that I'm a journey towards the peace…
The letter goes on, but you get the gist of it. Theresa is enamored with the letter right away. And why wouldn't she be? She's divorced. Her ex-husband is remarried with a child. And she feels like she may never taste love again. And certainly not in the way the writer of this particular letter describes his love for his wife.
Theresa works in research for a newspaper and the newspaper decides to run the letter, and that causes other people to come forward with similar letters—several of which are signed by the same mysterious "G." With each new letter, Theresa becomes more intrigued by the man who wrote them. She starts to trace the letters (via the typewriter, the stationary, and the type of bottle) and she knows that she must go meet the author of such letters.
So, she jumps on a plane in Chicago and travels to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. She finds Garret working on a boat and he offers to take her sailing. After some rather stilted conversation, they begin to laugh at their awkwardness and thus begins their relationship. But, he still can't let go of his deceased wife (who's been dead for two years) and Theresa is she not all that sure she wants to uproot her life in Chicago—especially since she has a son.
They start to visit each other in the respective environments and they are headed for marriage—even though they had to deal with some very difficult issues (one of which is—Theresa didn't tell Garret about the letters—he found out on his own). After Garret finally decides that he can forgive her, he gets in his boat to do a little sailing, but tragically, his boat capsizes in a storm and he dies. (The book version is a little different, but he still dies in the end.)
When Theresa, visits Garret's house after his death, she discovers various artifacts from their relationship and she finds a letter Garret wrote to Catherine telling her that he'd found somebody to love as much as he'd loved her.
I found the ending to be both heartbreaking and satisfying—even though I think I'm in the minority. Yes, I would have loved to have seen them get together. But life is often about picking up the pieces and moving on after bad things happen. Garret had finally reached that point. So had Theresa. And as difficult as it was to watch her cry over the realization that she would indeed have ended up with Garret if he'd lived, she made this great point in the end…
"If some lives form a perfect circle, others take shape in ways we cannot predict or always understand. Loss has been a part of my journey, but it has always shown me what is precious. So has a love for which I can only be grateful."
Loss is part of everybody's journey and indeed loss shows us what is precious. Love is precious. People are precious. Letting go when the time has come is precious. And so is taking a risk. As a single guy, I love to live vicariously through other single characters on the big screen as they find love and ultimately "happiness." But that's not always realistic. So, I find great comfort and strength in watching other single characters who press on in spite of their setbacks.
Previous posts in this series:#9, A Walk to Remember
#10, In Love and War
