MovieChat Forums > Message in a Bottle (1999) Discussion > Angry...Warning: Spoiler (movie)

Angry...Warning: Spoiler (movie)

posted 18 years ago by katrina_luisa
13 replies | jump to latest

I don't know about anyone else, but I was angry at the ending! I mean, Theresa didn't even get a chance to really have him for long (she went through being cheated on and now her lover goes and dies on her in a freak accident). Poor woman! His first wife had it easy, and yet we didn't sympathize with her as much as Theresa. I swear, Catherine missed him and killed him off so he wouldn't bang another woman! :p

Also, if he flew to Chicago to visit Theresa and her son the first time, why did he have to sail the second time!? And doesn't this guy watch the weather channel or check sailing conditions before he pushes off the dock? If he were 20 years old maybe I can understand him haphazardly sailing off to Chicago. 40-year-olds tend to be more cautious (especially experienced sailors).

Haha, I'm so mean. :) I enjoyed the movie, though. It was sweet!

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] carpet_seller 17 years ago

Maybe it is kind of refreshing not to have a happy hollywood ending.

I don't think he was sailing to Chicago, although that was the impression given. He would be pretty stupid to attempt that journey single handed at the beginning of winter. He was stupid to go out to sea single handed (as he found out). Had he been planning to go to Chicago he would have told his dad (Newman) where he was going.

[–] SevernSarge 17 years ago

Katrina, I remember being very hacked off at the ending of this story, and that was just from experiencing it in the book. In fact, I threw the book across the room at the end. Kept me from ever watching the movie...

"Always choose the lesser of two weevils."

[–] LookinGood 17 years ago

Well, the weather conditions weren't that bad. It seemed to be a squall within a thunderstorm, not an all out storm, and certainly not one that couldn't be weathered by an experienced sailor in a good boat.
If you look up Nicholas Spark's homepage (http://www.nicholassparks.com/FAQS/Message/FAQ_Book_Message_1.html), there's a FAQ article where he gives a bit of background on the creation of the story. It is actually based on his parents (his father in particular). His mother died in a riding accent, and his father was devastated, and grieved for years. When he finally found a new love after 7 years and they decided to get married. Sparks sen. died only a few days after the announcement, in a car crash.
I was angry at the ending too, but if you had a "happy ever after" type of ending, the story would be utterly forgettable.
--
"I was born to speak all mirth and no matters."

[–] byebyegirl 17 years ago

" I was angry at the ending too, but if you had a 'happy ever after' type of ending, the story would be utterly forgettable."

I totally agree with you. You remember films with sad endings more.

He was not sailing to Chicago just going out to post his last letter to Catherine.

[–] jane_bront 15 years ago

I prefer the typical Hollywood happy endings in my chick flicks although sad endings do seem to fit N. Sparks-type stories, stories that remind me of the Hallmark card specials.

Anyway, I know nothing about sailing but that 'squall' looked pretty dangerous to me even for someone experienced. Landlubber that I am, I was freaked out.

Because I didn't want Garrett to die, I was annoyed with the dumb inexperienced tourists. Why couldn't the other man go back for the woman himself? Why didn't she go first with the girl? Why didn't they all hang on together while Garrett was pulling them? I'm sorry but the husband or whoever should have died, not Garrett. But if that happened then that whole scene wouldn't have made any sense in the story.

The look on Garrett's face when he swam about halfway from the boat to the dumbsel-in-distress said to me 'd*mn, I might not make it. I'll never see Theresa again because of these airheads.'

I'm glad I spoiled myself by coming to imdb first or I would have been really bummed.

"This isn't exactly the first grave we've dug. You still think I'm a catch?" - Sam Winchester

[–] aqua_angel121 15 years ago

so what exactly happened in the end? i started watching it last night and fell asleep 20 minutes before it ended.

[–] tjy355 15 years ago

The boat hit an iceberg and sank.

[–] chiluvr1228 14 years ago

SPOILER ALERT!

Garret went out to "mail" his last letter to Catherine and drowned trying to save a family that had fallen overboard during a storm.

A crappy ending, reminded me of "City of Angels".

[–] ItsYou3 14 years ago

SPOILER about BOOK and MOVIE !!!!!

What bothered me about the ending of the movie was that it wasnt how it happened in the book. In the book his boat (named Happenstance in the book and completed when his first wife was alive) is overcome by the tides and it sinks. He doesnt have his life vest on and he is unable to swim in the strong current and ends up drowning. I was happy that he died because if he had lived then it would have been even farther off from the story in the book.

[–] one189teen50five 13 years ago

I feel like it was Theresa's fault that Garrett felt he had to go out to sea in the first place so he could "get closure" with Catherine so he could go to Theresa with no baggage. I would've loved to have seen Garrett rescued at sea, maybe after a few days adrift on his boat, instead of killed off. I have mixed feelings about the ending. It was a good ending, but too sad. I like to leave a movie feeling happy. Oh well.

[–] Wuchak (8190) 4 years ago

I swear, Catherine missed him and killed him off so he wouldn't bang another woman! :p

You nailed it!

[–] johnmiller (3406) 3 years ago

Nicholas Sparks has done this in other novels, where the male lead dies performing some noble cause, and the woman is left behind.