Review of Message in a Bottle

I was sort of hoping to enjoy this flick, but boy was I disappointed. First of all, the story is set in The Outer Banks of North Carolina, but clearly this film was shot nowhere The Outer Bank, and I would say nowhere near North Carolina. My best guess would be that they took their cameras up to Maine or something and thought that no one would see the difference. BIG MISTAKE! People who have been there know how beautiful The Outer Banks really are, and will recognize the difference. Secondly, this story is just dumb, drawn out, and overly melodramatic. This story could probably have been told in just over an hour, not just over two. The filmmakers got a little trigger happy when Costner signed on, and went overboard(no pun intended) with everything, the result being a confused, disappointing mess. The one bright light in all this muck of a film is the startling performance given by Paul Newman. Sure, it is basically the same character that he played in Nobody's Fool, but who cares. The man is still one of the finest actors that ever lived, and this performance is among some of his best work. If you decide to watch this film, do it so you can enjoy Newman's wonderful performance. His work is the only reason that this film should be viewed.