40
Metascore
23 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanOn paper, the movie sounds unbearably schlocky, but Costner plays Garret the reluctant backcountry prince as mythic but also foxy and life size.
- 63USA TodayMike ClarkUSA TodayMike ClarkAt least this movie has flashes of humor, thought nearly all come courtesy of Newman. [12 February 1999, Life, p.8E]
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe climactic events are shameless, contrived, and wildly out of tune with the rest of the story. To saddle Costner, Penn and Newman with such goofy melodrama is like hiring Fred Astaire and strapping a tractor on his back.
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittThe story is so sentimental that even soap-opera buffs may feel it outwears its welcome.
- 50San Francisco ExaminerSan Francisco ExaminerA movie that barely lives.
- 40The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinGarret is played by Kevin Costner, who should avoid all future roles that call for overalls and goggles and who this time crosses the line from teasingly laconic to stodgy.
- The depressing results will likely make viewers feel jerked around when it's all over.
- 30L.A. WeeklyChuck WilsonL.A. WeeklyChuck WilsonEven the easily weepy may grow impatient with the snail’s pace of this melancholy romance.
- 30Dallas ObserverBill GalloDallas ObserverBill GalloGet out your hankies and weep for the heart-tugging disaster Message in a Bottle.