Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: After finding heartfelt letters on the beach, a reporter is determined to track down the man who wrote them.
Review: This appears to be an unintentional tradition since I'm, yet again, reviewing a Nicholas Sparks movie! In a nutshell, this was a decent movie all around, however, it could have been significantly better if they had someone other than Kevin Costner playing the male lead, Garret. Typically I like Mr. Costner, but this must have been a favor for the director or something. He clearly does not care about the role and it shows; his line delivery is laughable at times to boot. With Robin Wright committed fully to the role--and doing quite a good job at that--it becomes more obvious that there is zero chemistry between the two actors. Hell, Paul Newman in his old age would have made for a better love interest since his character was charming at least. Should have scrapped everything and started over. Oh well.
The general premise is somewhat intriguing with the lead, Theresa, finding a message in a bottle from Garret. Conveniently enough, she is a reporter and uses stalker antics to track Garret down and attempt to woo him while he's none the wiser of the situation. And here we have another romance plot line that only works if the genders weren't reversed. You're telling me this wouldn't be a horror movie if it was a guy obsessively stalking a chick across the country and saying he's in love with her without meeting her?! Anyway...if you can get past the creepy setup, Theresa does manage to hit it off with Garret except that he's still in love with his dead wife, of which the letters were originally addressed to. When trying to move forward with his life, and falling for Theresa, Garret discovers her stalker-ish tactics to track him down without ever explaining her self. In a fit of rage, it's revealed that one letter was not actually written by Garret but instead by the dying wife. This, sorta, creates a destined crossing of paths that could have worked, but the story ultimately goes nowhere from here in a pitiful effort to create melodrama. Garret does let go of his wife finally, and, when doing one last gesture to move forward, he, of course, gets himself killed while trying to save people. But of course! Theresa learns he had one last message in a bottle where he explained he was truly in love with Theresa, but the credits are too busy rolling before you can even take in the emotions...or lack thereof. Eh, I appreciate the effort.
Essentially, this is a by the numbers kind of romance--ripe with tropes and cliches--yet it has just the right level of cheese and charm to be a decent movie. There are good ideas strewn about that do work better than you'd think, however, Kevin Costner drags too much of the experience down. I do want to give extra kudos to Ms. Wright since her conviction to the Theresa character heavily compensates for Garret's lack of presence. I want to say this is a chick flick for older audiences, but the themes work just fine at any age. There is also a concerted effort to be overly sentimental that was annoying, but that might make things more engaging to certain audiences.
Notable Moment: When Theresa is outlandishly crying during the sex scene. Give me a break. Actually, this whole movie could have been reworked into a psychological thriller similarly to my stance on "Sleepless in Seattle."
Final Rating: 6/10
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