The Shipping News (2001) User Reviews

stunning

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 29 January 2002]

It's rare to see a movie made with such tender loving care. Director Hallstrom gathered the best cast and crew he could find for this film. The cinematography is glorious - I can't believe Oliver Stapleton isn't up for every award in the world. Kevin Spacey turns in the best performance of his career as a brutalized man, Cate Blanchett is her usual chameleon self as his trashy girlfriend, Julianne Moore is perfection as the woman who helps him heal, and Judi Dench is funny and touching as his aunt. Hers is a role without a huge amount of lines but tons of substance. Only a master could have given the character such depth.

The Shipping News has poignancy, humor and a great deal of beauty. What it has above all else is atmosphere - Hallstrom's feel for the Newfoundland shipping village, the simple lives led there and the friendships made is truly awe-inspiring.

The scenery is the real star of this movie.....

[wisewebwoman · 8/10 · 15 March 2002]

I am a tremendous fan of the book and read it twice. I sense the movie missed the point here. Kevin Spacey does an admirable job with the difficult role of Quoyle, he is shot from strange angles to emphasize a height and width that is not there in real life. I had envisioned Gerard Depardieu in the role, big, hulking and awkward. I note also that one of the daughters was dropped from the movie, there are two in the book. Judi Dench's performance is incredible and her tough almost fatalistic Newfoundland character feels real. Moore is a disappointment, far too beautiful for the role and not as mysterious as depicted in the book. The scenery is incredible, wild and isolated. I enjoyed the soundtrack and the minor characters, all very well acted. I gave it an 8 out of 10 for the fabulous cinematography and Judi Dench.

New Wind Sweeps Clean

[rmax304823 · 8/10 · 7 December 2003]

SPOILERS.

It doesn't start out promising. As in "American Beauty," we hear Kevin Spacey's exhausted voice-over telling us how he was physically mishandled by his father and how empty his life is now. A brief marriage to a half-mad Kate Blanchett results in a child, Bunny, but it doesn't seem to help Spacey. At his father's funeral he runs into an aunt from a Canadian maritime province and, having no particular reason for existence in upstate New York, travels home with her.

That's when the story proper begins to get a bit more lively. This is a barren windswept place, tucked so far up into the northern latitudes that even at noon objects leave long shadows on the salt grass. People fish in this small village. They eat "seal flipper pies" made of the more cartilaginous parts of the fin. People speak with a kind of mid-Atlantic accent and they have queer names like Card and Buggitt and Quoyle. The town seems so dull that one day the tide may go out and never come back.

But it's livelier than it sounds underneath those lowering skies. Spacey gets a job at the local newspaper, The Gammy Bird or something like that. Well, okay, it's not the New York Times, but even the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse won a Pulitzer a few years ago. His assignment: write the shipping news, detailing which ships enter and leave port, and throw in any relevant bits of information. Also cover the regular car wrecks. Spacey runs into the couple who have just brought a yacht into harbor, a yacht that was built for Adolph Hitler, and does a story on it, much to the pleasure of the editor (Scott Glenn) who spends most of his time fishing. His career as journalist progresses, punctuated by the headlines he gradually learns to compose. An older colleague takes him to the shore, tells him to look at the horizon, and describe what he sees. "There are some mountains -- and a lot of dark clouds," ventures Spacey. "Nope: IMMINENT STORM THREATENS VILLAGE," says his mentor. "But what if it doesn't come?" Spacey asks. Answer: "DANGEROUS STORM SPARES VILLAGE."

There's a lot of humor in this film actually but none of it is played for laughs. It's the kind of humor that grows out of everyday encounters, unremarked upon but palpably there. Much of it is provided by the headlines. After some social coup, Spacey smiles with satisfaction and muses, "CLUMSY MAN STUNS CROWD." (It's a little like the "Windbag" chapter in "Ulysses.")

Spacey also runs into Julianne Moore, than whom there is no less glamorous or more talented actress on screen these days, who has a retarded child and a punk history of her own. The romance moves slowly and tentatively along as it might in life outside of the movies. The couple do not throw themselves into bed on their first night together and dissolve in an ecstasy of sighs and moans.

But it's basically the story of Spacey's self discovery. Nothing as simple as, "EMPTY MAN GOES HOME AND FINDS HIS ROOTS." Not a bit of it. His family has a lunatic and criminal history on these islands and the secrets are uncovered bit by bit, a patchwork of incest, rape, torture, piracy, and murder, all symbolized by a dreary haunted-looking old house anchored to the stone shore by steel cables and turnbuckles to hold it against the storms.

Well, a storm finally does lash the village. I was in such a storm, a hurricane in fact, in a small seaside village outside of Pago Pago in American Samoa. After a day and a night of savagery the dawn came and I was amazed after I'd crawled out from what was left of the place into the crisp new air -- trees down, bushes blasted away, huts shredded, and a majestic vista now that so many obstructions had been flattened. Something like that happens here. The final headline: "STORM DESTROYS HOUSE. LEAVES EXCELLENT VIEW."

I can't NOT mention Kevin Spacey's performance. He's so wispy and insensate at the beginning that he barely exists. He's heavier than usual here and walks in a fitting fashion. Now this is much tougher than what Russell Crowe did with his shambling in "A Beautiful Mind," or Dustin Hoffman's tics in "Rain Man," because Spacey has not to EMBODY a mental illness but to suggest a spiritual one. His performance is as close to perfection as it's possible to imagine, although by definition it must lack bravura. Moore is first rate, as usual, her flattish face almost luminous with sensibility, and the smaller parts are just fine. So is the direction. Spacey has, by my count, three nightmares about his childhood and not once does he wake up and thrust his face into the camera and scream. The score is understated during the film but rackets along behind the credits percussively in something like 6/8 time.

See this if you can, really, for an acting lesson if for no other reason, as long as you don't expect to find a slasher crawling through a fish factory with a chef's knife.

Actually a pretty good movie

[HunterDK · 7/10 · 18 October 2003]

I had seen the good rating of Shipping News before I watched it, and I would like to give it a shot.

Lasse Hallström did a good job when he directed The Cider House Rules, and Kevin Spacey is of course a good actor with movies like The Usual Suspects, LA Confidential and K-Pax. Furthermore we got supporting actresses such as the lovely Julianne Moore and talented Cate Blanchett, it was promising.

The movie is mostly a drama, but it succeeds in giving the audience some laughs when needed, which is important to me. Dramas can be too depressing sometimes, but it is of course sometimes needed to make a statement. Anyway, it is not needed in Shipping News and Lasse Hallström understands this very well.

The acting is great, the stars I mentioned earlier deliver good performances, but we also get the pleasure to watch other good actors too, so the cast really gives us a good movie.

Actually there are mainly positive things to say about this movie, the picture quality was good and the environment at Newfoundland created a good atmosphere. The only thing I would critisise is that the movie maybe could have been a bit longer, there were a few issues that I would like to have seen sorted out.

I have rated this movie 7/10, but it maybe deserved a little more. It is definitely worth watching.

The Shipping News is remarkable, stupendous, brilliant, witty and heart warming.

[emilyblunt · 23 December 2001]

Headline:The Shipping News sweeps all awards for 2002, the moviegoers cheer, and Spacey and cast snag a round of Oscars.

The Shipping News is about one man discovering himself when he wasn't even looking; when he's all but just given up.

Those familiar with Proulx's visceral scripting of lives -not-so-ordinary-in-reality will be pleasantly coddled as her Shipping News characters are brought to amazing life at the hands of some our time's finest actors; Dame Judi Dench, Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett and Kevin Spacey. Each is known for disappearing into their roles, and with the combination of Proulx's perfect characters (misfits) the actors seemed engulfed.

Quoyle (Kevin-- clearing a spot for a few award trinkets as we speak- Spacey) is a sad, nearly nonexistent man. He gets no respect from anyone he holds near and dear. He's a guy you pass on the street and may remark at, if only to notice how sad he appears. His life is nothing spectacular. His story? His story is another kettle of boiling water all together…

His life takes a few dramatic turns as we meet him. His gallivanting wife Petal (Cate Blanchett) has absconded with their young daughter Bunny and his parents have done something equally dramatic. The events find him thrown together with his tough-as-nails Newfoundland born aunt Agnis Hamm (Dame Judi Dench). With his run of luck at the deeper end of long over, she invites him to try a fresh start, up there.

He's got nothing to lose so follows her up to his family's historic birthplace. A barren rock his people called home, only forty odd years ago, called Killick-Claw. Think, middle of nowhere with fantastic cliff and ocean views and the restaurant is the only restaurant. Small, quaint and a perfect place to hide from your troubles and the world.

He and his precocious, and "sensitive," daughter Bunny are adjusting and getting to know their new neighbors on the small hamlet, that appears to never see the season of summer.

Quoyle is experiencing a newfound meaning to life (his life especially)in Newfoundland. He is hired as a small-time reporter for the local rag-mag and community pulse serving paper The Gammy Bird. His writing starts to affect all aspects of his mundane life.

He also meets an equally sad and sullen gal named Wavey (Julianne "Best Actress 2002" Moore). She' s a widow who wears her heart on her sleeve and is weary of starting any new romances. Poor Quoyle.

Mysterious happenings and awakenings start to emerge all around Quoyle as well as a new sense of self, friendships and life. What's it mean?

The Shipping News is old time story telling at it's finest. Newfoundland in itself is a bit of a mystical place to most of us. Proulx creates her story's characters so rich in dimension with that same timeless appeal like a Huck Finn or Nicholas Nickleby, one expects to look them up in the local phone book when in town. But it's the subtle expert performances for subtle yet animated characters make this simply a masterpiece. The award shows are going to be quite redundant this year... A Beautiful Mind and its wonderful cast and performances will be The Shipping News' only competition in the BIG 3 categories - for sure.

Spacey (whom I adore to the point of actually being speechless in front of), brings us, perhaps, his finest performance to date in Quoyle (pronounced coil). Kev reveals Quoyle's soul is wounded and yet his heart, even with all the injustices it has faced in its forty-something years that should be bitter and hard, manages to pound sweet, strong and hopeful. It's an unbelievable performance. Not that I'm surprised…This man is a

scrumptious treat for the senses not unlike like fresh fried Ipswich clams drizzled in tarter sauce with a side of old fashioned delectable helping of New England style cole slaw!

Why's Spacey so great? Is it because he hung with Jack Lemmon in his formative years as an actor? Or because (like myself) he adores the complicated gritty works of Eugene O'Neill? Perhaps, because he makes himself aloof to keep his personality out of his films, thusly making himself completely disappear into the film? Um…yeah. Disagree? Get your own review. K-PAX aside, his work always brilliant, intense, or funny, or light…it's what ever he wants it to be. I'd breed with the man, sure, but I'm also sure I will not be alone in my admiration for his performance here. Sorry, Russell, your also grand and one helluva actor, but your "butt" has been elegantly drop kicked by Cadet Fowler for the mad mad race for Oscar…

Judi Dench is, as always, an inspiration on film.

Julianne Moore (Wavey) worked her plane Jane gorgeous self into a yarn of great depth and feeling. We wanted to make her tea and give her a hug by the end of the film.

Cate "I'm in every movie on the marquee this winter" Blanchett is a chameleon- somebody check her body temperature and dining habits! As Quale's rude, nasty, sluty bimbette squared love interest, Petal, she makes you loath her within the first forty-eight frames.

Petal and Quoyle's offspring, little "Bunny", was played by triplets Alyssa, Kaitlyn, and Lauren Gainer. These gals could give Haley Joel Osment a run for his bubblegum money. They played beside veteran thespians like it was their birthright. You can picture the little dolls finished with their scenes sneaking off to be kids again "please pass the play dough, please, I'm done with my scene mum."

Pete "Kobayashi" Postlewaite plays Quoyle's nemesis at the paper with tons of humor and that smoothness of delivery he's so famous for. Love this man.

Welsh and Sheppard's Pie of a manly man, actor Ryhs Ifans ( Little Nicky, Notting Hill) was adorable as Quoyle's new friend B. Beaufield Nutbeem. It was such a pleasure to see him- on so many different levels.

Director, Lasse Hallstrom (My Life as a Dog, Cider House Rules) is famous for quirky studies on the human condition. Here he's strung his cast together like a Newfoundland fisherman's net and draws them so tightly together so as not a syllable of dialog slips away. In lesser hands The Shipping News could have been a sentimental sugar encrusted bakers dozen of stale over done leaden donuts.

There's so many more involved and each deserves accolades for bringing an already warm story to the screen with a remarkable toasty reality that makes you laugh, stir, and wonder… I feel bad for Ron Howard. He finally gets a nod or two and he has to be up against this film.

Snack recommendation: Plain Donuts, fried octopus tentacle sandwiches and tea

Headline: The Shipping News looms over small cinema. Crowds, hearing the buzz, rush to see it opening day! The masses exclaim:" for once a film is better than its hype."

Blunt Aside: Have you noticed the names I've listed; Petal Wavey, Bunny? That's just some of Proulx's magic. She chooses her names in such a way as to metaphorically manipulate your mind without your even knowing it. Even Quoyle has significance. After you see the film (which is mandatory) the names will come gloriously into the light. Trust me.

A small, interesting film

[FilmOtaku · 6/10 · 22 May 2003]

Kevin Spacey has made a career out of playing losers who struggle to find themselves, but in each turn he manages to make the character fresh.

**Possible Spoiler**

The Shipping News is the story of Quoyle, (Spacey) a man who has been used and abused all of his life. Circumstances occur that leave him alone in the world with a 6 year old daughter to care for, until a long lost aunt (Dench) he has never known shows up at his door. He and his daughter follow her on her journey to their ancestral home in Newfoundland where he attempts to better his life and the life of his daughter, and battle with the demons in both his own past and that of his ancestors.

This is a small film with a rich bevy of supporting characters. If it weren't for these characters the movie would not be nearly as interesting. The excellent script also compliments the cast in a way that allows the film to transcend other "small quirky town" films. And, as always Kevin Spacey owns his role in such a way that you cannot imagine another actor playing the part - especially important in this film because he is featured in most of the film's scenes.

It took a long time for me to finally see this film because while I am a Kevin Spacey fan, the film seemed to be yet another treatment of the fish out of small town water piece. After having seen the film, however I see that I clearly made an incorrect assumption - this is a very good drama that makes for thought-provoking viewing.

--Shelly

Spacey and Hallstrom shine in a moving story

[FlickJunkie-2 · 9/10 · 18 July 2002]

Director Lasse Halstrom continues to prove himself to be outstanding at presenting sensitive human dramas with this touching film about a broken man's retreat to his ancestral roots. This poignant tale unwinds deliberately and delicately as each of the main characters shares his or her dark secrets buried in the past.

Halstrom is an inspired actors' director who entices outstanding performances from his troupe. He has a wonderful ability to make simple characters appear bigger than life. I continue to admire his unobtrusive presentation, forgoing ostentatious directorial stylizing in favor of simple shots that let the story and the characters dominate. The cinematography and choice of locations in this film are understated and lovely without the need for garishness.

The acting is superb. Kevin Spacey, as Quoyle, once again shows his range, taking on an emotionally crippled character that is quite unlike the confident and clever characters that jump off his resume. Spacey relinquishes all traces of the cockiness that is his trademark and brilliantly renders a pathetic nebbish whose greatest daily struggle is to overcome his own ennui. For Spacey to suppress his natural dynamism to slip this character on so effectively is a testimony to his excellence as an actor.

While this is clearly Spacey's film, the supporting cast of accomplished veterans weaves a splendid tapestry. Julianne Moore is excellent as Quoyle's love interest with a delicate portrayal of a character that is simultaneously supportive and insecure. Judi Dench is marvelous as Quoyle's crusty old aunt, who drags him back to Newfoundland to find himself among the ashes of his unseemly clan. Cate Blanchett is bodacious as the impulsive vamp who ravishes Quoyle and stays with him only long enough to give him a daughter. Scott Glenn is terrific as the cantankerous publisher of the local newspaper who turns Quoyle from a typesetter into a reporter.

This film is not for everyone. It is extremely deliberate and will fray the patience of the average viewer. However, for those who have a love of human interest stories with flawed but lovable characters, this will be a treat. I rated it a 9/10. It is a gem of human foibles and interactions that is moving and insightful.

Another moving display of human sentiments from Hallström.

[shanfloyd · 7/10 · 2 July 2006]

Lasse Hallström had created a number of great films that deliver serious introspective messages of human emotions, with masterful uses of filming locations and scenery to create the various moods of his films which is often pensive or thought-provoking. We have seen them in "Chocolat", "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" and in "The Cider House Rules". His selection of novels he makes films based on is also brilliant. Here, "The Shipping News" is another master stroke from him which leaves the viewer quite in awe to the film's sentiments and atmosphere.

I haven't read the novel. And it's quite unlikely I'll find it in my local bookstores and I hate e-books. So I can never judge the film's quality of adaptation. All I can say is that the film offers us a wonderful story of a rather ordinary man named Quoyal who's brilliantly portrayed by Kevin Spacey. The character of Quoyal is still fascinating, extra-ordinarily ordinary. The best chemistry of Quoyal is not with his later love-interest Wavey, but with his aunt Agnis. This is a major touch of brilliance in the story. The story also tells us about Newfoundland and its people... and leaves us indeed fascinated by those facts. But in the end, emotions are same everywhere, be it Newfoundland or Indonesia, so the story is ultimately of grief, sense of loss, rediscovering one's self and love.

Julianne Moore is rather stiff in this film. I don't know whether it's for her role or she acted badly. Judi Dench is a pleasure to watch again. Cate Blanchett's extended cameo is awesome too. But actors don't carry the film. The major credit for the film goes to the director. There's a major flaw (perhaps) in the story in the end concerning the character Jack but Hallstrom pulls it off nicely so that the audience cannot react to it and accepts it temporarily. Hats off to you, Mr Hallström.

Extraordinary adaptation of a brilliant novel

[denaka · 10/10 · 26 December 2002]

Having read the brilliant and seamless novel - and believing that movie adaptations of novels rarely succeed - I did not expect to like this movie. Much to my surprise, I found the film totally successful. Kevin Spacey - who seemed to be an odd choice for the role - is perfect as Coyle, capturing the true spirit of the character and proving himself to be one of the finest movie actors of his generation. Judi Dench is, as always, just right. Julianne Moore (I was not previously familiar with her work) is astonishing. The look of the movie...the tone...the screenplay all work - as an adaptation of the novel and as a film unto itself. I do not understand why this movie did not garner more recognition. I strongly recommend it to those who have read the novel and those who have yet to experience Annie Proulx remarkable prose.

A wintry and salty gem that borders fairy-tale territory.

[ozjeppe · 7/10 · 26 November 2006]

Again, a film based on a novel I hadn't even heard of beforehand. But after warming up to this adaption, I'm more than tempted to read it! Director Hallström scores an unusual, wintry and salty gem with a storyline that refuses to take easy ways out and sometimes borders fairy-tale territory. So, low realism factor indeed.

Visually it looks cute & cuddly, but has a much needed rough core of not-so-sweet characters to make it stick out. Great cast and captivating setting. Love that newspaper office milieu! Only quibble: the dead-man-awakening-scene. It doesn't work and is clearly redundant.

7 out of 10 from Ozjeppe

Comments from The Maritimes - Good, but flawed.

[Prophet1-2 · 4/10 · 28 December 2001]

As a man with some very strong Newfoundland roots, let me comment on this movie.

First, I was not a BIG fan of the book. Proulx's writing style, while unique and engaging for athe first hundred pages, quickly becomes cloying and irritating in the last 200. While here characters were elegantly and ingeniously crafted (Billy Pretty, both in tyhe pages and on the screen by Newfie Gordon Pinsent being the best of the bunch), and here sparse descriptions of the Newfoundland landscape befitting the sparse and bare Western Shore (although there are some mighty fine towns along that same coast), here characterization of Newfoundlanders is very 'look-down-your-nose' - they are all rustic, and seem never to have seen any modern convieniences, and are second kin to the McCoys of the American Ozarks. When, in the movie, Quoyle confronts the Old Qouyle who has been cursing the house, we can almost hear the banjo from "Deliverance"; when they actually show Guy raping Agnes (a needless scene - we know he does it, the guy just told us. It serves no purpose...), I imagines the movies title to be "Deliverance II: The Newfoundland Connection"

This is the biggest problem I have; in the book, there is a line "Incest is a way of life in Newfoundland." and in the movie when Quoyle discovers his grandfather was 12 when he died, and Agnes says "You don't know Newfoundlanders." These strike me a the sort of thing Mainlanders have been saying about Newfoundlanders for years. The book was written, after all, by an American...

The movie itself is a good movie. Kevin Spacey (my favorite actor of all), turns in a good performance, not a great one, though he gets Quoyle just about spot on if you cut away all the parts about how fat Quoyle is and he is 10 times more insecure than Spacey portrays him, but maybe thats a problem of script. Dame Judi Dench gives a marvelous portrayal of Agnes, and the staff of the Gammy Bird one and all are spot on perfect in their roles. Dench, Scott Glenn as Jack Buggit, Pete Postlethwaite (one of the best character actors around) as Tert Card, and the Welsh guy as one of the best characters Nutbeem, and the best guy in the movie, maybe because he's from Newfoundland, Gordon Pinsent as Billy Pretty. Cate Blanchett is also remarkable as Petal.

I voted 8 out of 10 - good, not great. Lord of the Rings will take Best Picture and best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director, but Dench my get Best Actress, and Gordon Pinsent deserves a nod for Best Supporting Actor.

A beautiful portrait of human emotions and reactions

[jhambrock444 · 10/10 · 13 July 2002]

Often when watching a film with a cast which has more Oscar nominations in their careers than the film has minutes, a level of expectations will be engraved which exceeds far above a film than which one should. Such is an example with the poignant, touching and often funny film, The Shipping News.

The Shipping News is film about loss, recovery, pain, but most of all, recovery. When a person loses a loved one, or in this case, a person who loses someone they think they love, it comes with a package of emotional stress and remorse. The person they lose is immortalized within their thoughts, usually in a positive, memorable perspective.

The story begins with a narration by Quoyle (Spacey), and through this depressing and self defeating narration, we learn that Quoyle is man who has never succeeded in anything, is a failure in his family's eyes, and has never accomplished one thing in his entire life. He struggles through every miserable task he is given, he aches at the thought of one more day.

As a defeated man who has never loved, never laughed, and never succeeded, he is desperate for something, desperate for someone. When he meets a woman named Petal (Blanchett) he thinks he's in love. We see a woman who is looking for a costumer, looking for someone to spend the night with. Quoyle sees a wife, someone to spend the rest of his life with. So without hesitation, he takes a swing at this wild tiger. He thinks he has achieved that echelon of happiness. He has a darling little girl, he has a wife, and he has a steady job. But he soon learns that one person, a person he has known for little over a few years, can turn his life upside down. After a realistic and inevitable chain of events, he is back to his pitiful little life. Only this time, he's lost more than he can handle. His own emotional attachments have become his own emotional destruction.

In the midst of these happenings, Quoyle is met at the door by his Aunt Agnis (Dench), whom he has never met. She suggests they begin a new future, for she too has lost something. She decides that they should travel to their native roots, in Newfoundland. The future looks bleak to Quoyle, but only the happiest of times look ahead to Agnis. At least from our perspective.

Throughout the film we are met by several supporting characters played by familiar and not so familiar actors. These characters, while they may seem supporting, play the largest part in the film. For these characters are the building blocks which help Quoyle begin his `transformation'. These are the people which help Quoyle recognize his roots and why he must belong there. Throughout these characters, we are met with many intertwining storylines which could make a whole entire film by themselves. But these characters are all here to help one man find a reason. A reason for being.

Throughout this masterful tale of loss, recovery, and pain, we discover that problems exist within problems. We learn that the future may result in failure, but will always have an answer. The answer lies within Quoyle himself. While these supporting players may have an impact on Quoyle's job and home, Quoyle is the only one who can help find happiness for himself.

With a star-studded cast which shines with the inspiring score by Christopher Young, Lasse Hallstrom has created a film which should not be overlooked, but should be look upon as a film which displays how courage, love, and faith, can overcome loss, struggle, and pain.

Shipping Bad News.

[anaconda-40658 · 7/10 · 23 March 2016]

The Shipping News (2001): Dir: Lasse Hallstrom / Cast: Kevin Spacey, Judi Dench, Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett, Pete Postlethwaite: Intriguing title symbolizes persistence. After his bar hopping wife is found dead in an auto accident, Kevin Spacey and his daughter go live with an aunt in a house that bares a painful past. Flimsy subplots include incest, murder, false heart attacks, unfaithful spouses, etc. This distracts from core issues and hinder as oppose to develop character. Director Lasse Hallstrom has vision but no payoff. It is below his work in Chocolat but certainly an improvement over the overrated abortion drama The Cider House Rules, which, for some strange reason was given undeserved praise for being a disjointed piece of sh*t. Innovative performance by Spacey who survives the bland subplots by being genuine. Judi Dench plays the aunt who might have been more interesting had she not gotten caught up in useless melodrama regarding the past. She eventually resorts to pouring ashes down a toilet. Julianne Moore plays a withdrawing kindergarten teacher who predictably must get involved with Spacey then open up with a long speech about her past that we've long lost interest in. Cate Blanchett steals scenes as Spacey's sleazy wife. She delivers the most interesting performance in the film. Well made drama featuring a strong theme of healing traumas. Score: 7 ½ / 10

Spares one from having to read the book.

[FilmSnobby · 1/10 · 26 November 2003]

Lasse Hallestrom's *The Shipping News* actually does people a favor: it spares them from having to read the novel by E. Annie Proulx, on which it's based. I assure you, the novel is no better. If you haven't read the book, the film will encourage your suspicion that Literature (or "Lit'rature", as they say in Oxford and places like it) has degenerated to the point of extinction. After seeing the film, you will be astonished that this nonsense, in its novel-form, won the National Book Award. (Or was it the Pulitzer?) But then you'll recall that the folks at the National Book Award just gave Stephen King some sort of Lifetime Achievement Award, so how can you say that you're surprised?

But this is a review of the movie, not the book, so I'd better get to the point, eh? First of all, we have Kevin Spacey, who has sadly become the guarantor of bad, maudlin movies. Here, he plays Quoyle (pronounced "Coil"), an apparently half-witted man who, thanks to a plot contrivance, gets involved with a slut played by Cate Blanchett. You won't believe your eyes when you see Blanchett (whose character's name is "Petal" -- can we get more "lit'ry"?) ride Spacey like a mechanical bull. Only in the movies . . . and in today's prize-winning lit'rature, I guess. Naturally, the doofus gets the slut pregnant -- enter new daughter "Bunny" (I guess we CAN get more lit'ry). Well, Petal proves to be averse to family life and -- NOT a spoiler, this is very early in the film -- takes a powder, dying in a car wreck with a new boyfriend. Hilariously, the police tell Quoyle that Petal sold Bunny to an "adoption slave-ring". Now THIS is Lit'rature, folks!

Judi Dench shows up and steals the ashes of Quoyle's father. I forgot to mention, Quoyle's parents had died at some point during all this, and Dench is the sister of Quoyle's father. Which makes her, of course, Spacey's aunt. To quote Don Henley, Are you with me so far? Dench spirits Quoyle and Bunny away to their ancestral home of Newfoundland for a fresh start. (Proulx' choice of setting is a typical lit'ry cliche: New - Found - Land. Get it?) You're probably wondering why Dench stole her brother's ashes. It's so that she can urinate on them after dumping them in an outhouse toilet. Ah-HA -- there must be some sort of Deep, Dark, Lit'ry Secret behind all this!

This is getting wearisome, so let me wrap it up like a Newfoundland cod. Quoyle gets a job as a reporter for the local rag and meets Julianne Moore, a widow of four years whose single status is extremely unlikely in such a small community. Meanwhile, the Quoyle family lives in a tied-down house on a cliff above the beach that's so drafty one wonders why they're not all dead from pneumonia by the end of the movie. Spacey learns how to use a boat, and finds decapitated bodies in the sea. His daughter beats old dolls to death with hammers, and befriends Moore's retarded young son. A skinny ghost with a pet lurks about the tied-down house, leaving trash on the doorstep in the dead of night. Everyone eats squid hamburgers. One character rises from the dead like Lazarus, thereby ending a salty old curse. Magic realism, hidden tragedies, "broken people" -- all the usual ingredients that constitute today's crappy literature.

The biggest revelation in *The Shipping News* is how good Cate Blanchett looks with her pants off. Other than that, it's just another Miramax film. You've been warned.

A Broken Man Can Heal

[Chrysanthepop · 11 August 2011]

Based on Annie Proulx's novel, Lasse Hallström's 'The Shipping News' starts off a little slow. At first, I thought it would be one of those Hollywood adaptations loaded with dramatic clichés but as the story moves on and the characters build up, it makes a better turn. The film appears to centre around Quoyle and his struggle to find a new life after the death of his promiscuous vampish wife (whose last act was selling their daughter to a black market adoption agency,unbeknownst to Quoyle). However, the supporting characters (even though they have limited screen time) are equally important because they all have a dark secret and that's what 'The Shipping News' is about, how sharing a secret can set someone free from burden.

The film beautifully captures Newfoundland, right from the somewhat barren yet stunning landscape to the local culture. The cinematography, art direction and score contribute well to the atmosphere. Newfoundland itself is presented as a character.

Even though I found the pacing to be a little uneven, the refreshing subtle humour balances well with the quiet intense scenes. Spacey's Quoyle appears to be a tad monotonous in the first half. There was something lacking in Spacey's performance during this portion a but the actor does manage to do much more with the role in the second half. Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, Pete Postlethwaite and Cate Blanchett are superb. Even though Blanchett's character is poorly developed, the actress rises above it. The rest of the cast especially Scott Glenn, Rhys Ifans, Gordon Pinsent and Jason Behr are just as brilliant.

'The Shipping News' may have its flaws but it's visually intriguing, well acted and funny. In the end, it is a worthy film experience.

The Newfoundland News...

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 18 January 2002]

The novel in which this film is based, was a joy to read. The treatment that it gets on screen, is a different story. Lasse Hallstrom's version of The Shipping News leaves one very cold, by the way the director has dealt with the material and actors.

One wonders what Ms. Proulx thought about the finished product and of the job of the screenwriter's adaptation of this difficult novel? All the elements of the novel are displayed, yet, I found it without 'soul', or maybe a center, or a clear direction of what the author was telling us. No doubt, this is a very difficult work to translate in cinema terms. It's a sure bet that Robert Nelson Jacob had his very good intentions in giving us the essence of the book. Sometimes he succeeds, and sometimes he fails.

The main character, Quoyle, is a man whose life has passed him by and has not met someone to share his lonely existence. His life with Petal is just a mess. He certainly picked a winner who obviously, couldn't care less about him. She's a self-centered person. She's incapable of giving anything in return to her husband and so she goes having fun with any man that might appear in the horizon. Kevin Spacey fares better in this film than in his most recent work. He definitely underplays the character to the point of exasperation, as we would like to see him stop being the nincompoop he portrays and become the man one wants him to be.

On the other hand, Julianne Moore's Wavey Prowse is a mousy woman who is in the same league as Quoyle. She's been left with a son in such a desolate spot of the world that when Quoyle appears in her life, she's hesitant to take what's coming her way. It's very difficult, at times, to understand her, as she has adopted a brogue that's as thick as some of the fog in the area.

In translating the novel to the screen, the role of the aunt, Agnis Hamm has been expanded, no doubt to let Dame Judi Dench do her turn, as the woman who has been the object of a horrible deed in her past, at the hand of a loved one. It's a treat to see this actress dispose of the ashes of the brother in such an unflattering, matter-of-fact way.

The film could have been helped if it had been trimmed a bit. The locations in Newfoundland are very impressive indeed with the ruggedness of the landscape and the climate they have to put up with.

A broken man can heal

[PeterRoeder · 7/10 · 9 March 2008]

I thought this was an excellent movie about the triumph of the human spirit over depression and despair. Kevin Spacey plays a character who is depressed because of his terrible father and background but he somehow redeems himself in a fight with nature going back to the splendid nature of New Foundland (no idea where that is, by the way). Lasse Halmstrøm exploits the terrific ocean and mountain scenery very well. Spacey is as usually brilliant. I didn't once think about him as the serial killer of Se7en, ha ha. No, this is a movie with something so primitive as a "morale": namely that "even a broken man can heal". Anyway, if someone knows where New Foundland is, drop me a message...

An article of faith

[john-3109 · 10/10 · 16 April 2006]

Lasse Halstrom's (2001) film with screenplay by Robert Nelson Jacobs is based on the novel by Annie Proulx.

Set in Newfoundland sometime in the sixties or seventies, it tells the tale of a slow and steady young man named Quoyle (Kevin Spacey) who falls unwittingly into a marriage doomed to fail. From the wreck and ruin of it, he salvages his daughter Bunny (played at different stages by Alyssa, Kaitlyn and Lauren Gainer) and is persuaded by his beleaguered Aunt Agnis (Judi Dench) to go back to the scene of the crime.

The scene of crime is his old ancestral home in Newfoundland. Arrived there, he chances on a job as newspaper reporter, being hired by the owner Jack Buggit (Scott Glenn), and finds himself suddenly immersed among a group of people who more or less begin the colossal task of straightening him out a little. Not that they're doing it on purpose. For them, it's just second nature.

Tert Card (Pete Postlethwaite) is first to start in on the confused but resilient Coyle - a man whose life 'happens' to him, rather than being the result of any confident effort on his own part to steer his life in a given direction. As the new cub-reporter he is assigned the worst and most uninteresting job on the paper - covering car wrecks and 'The Shipping News'.

But being the kind of man he is, good things come to him like timid, shy creatures which usually stay well out in the wilderness. He strikes up an acquaintance with a single mother, Wavey Prowse (Julianne Moore) but has even more shocks and unexpected skeletons to discover in his Aunt's cupboard.

As the film unfolds, we see a slow and remarkable transformation in the apparently slow and uncomprehending Quoyle. A chance visit by a yacht reputedly owned by Adolf Hitler transforms his career from cub reporter to feature writer. His developing relationship with Wavey creates a rich environment for his wounds to heal and gives him the strength to support his Aunt as she finally confronts her own demons.

We finally learn why she had to come back, and we see Quoyle's journey almost complete as we leave them.

This is a great film with surprises and delights around every corner.

two thirds of a good film

[NateWatchesCoolMovies · 6/10 · 4 December 2016]

Lasse Hollstrom's The Shipping News is two thirds of a great movie, but unfortunately has a first act which introduces it's main character in the most heavy handed of ways, and sort of shoots itself in the foot. It helps that the rest of the film is lovely, but it takes some time to get the sour taste out of your mouth. Kevin Spacey is Quoyle, a meek milquetoast dude who has spent his entire life moping and whining, constantly being walked all over and never standing up for himself, starting right from his childhood relationship with his father (Jim 'sippy poo' Lahey, the glorious bastard). He's so pathetic and such a loser that one wonders where can you go from here, and why did Spacey choose to start his arc at such a sad extreme, instead of livening it up a bit? By chance (and I mean chance) he marries Petal ( half mad Cate Blanchett), a wayward woman-child with barely an ounce of sanity or sensibility in her, and has a daughter with her. She runs off to a tragic self inflicted end, and he is left to raise the girl. Suddenly he receives news that a relative has passed in a small coastal fishing village his ancestral home of Newfoundland, so he packs it in and the two of them head on out there to begin anew. From there it's an awakening for him, and bit by bit his character becomes believable and tolerable, two traits that were simply not there up until this point. He meets a long lost relative (a salty Judi Dench), befriends a local gal (Julianne Moore), starts working for the gruff local newspaper magnate (Scott Glenn, wonderful) and essentially finds a self within him that he never had before, a life to fill the pointless void he's lived in for his whole existence so far. The town is charming, the atmosphere authentic and the acting terrific, including Rhys Ifans and the late great Pete Postlethwaite. I just wish the first act could have measured up to the rest and not stuck out like such a misplaced and noticeable sore thumb. Hallstrom has an ear for intimate, rural set family drama (check out An Unfinished Life with Robert Redford for his best work), and for the most part, this one delivers the goods.

superbly non-Hollywood

[diane-34 · 9/10 · 10 February 2002]

I was very impressed with The Shipping News for several reasons: the location should win an Oscar alone, Hallstrom's magical minimalist direction and the acting by the major leads and perhaps even more wonderful, by the many minor parts, were outstanding.

The beauty of the story, involving as it does many all-to-familiar dramas that are easily recognized by people anywhere, was used as a springboard to explore a little known area of the world and to bring much needed illumination on rarely discussed social problems.

To actually see such a beautiful movie shot on location in the magnificent surrounds of Newfoundland should lead film makers away from the sterility of southern California and the too-used streets of New York. I guess I've had my fill of movies about what Hollywood has been dishing out and I've gotten thoroughly jaded with virtually everything made by them.

The Man, Our Spirit and the Nature

[kerimalpalt · 7/10 · 26 October 2023]

Iti s a sweet, thoughtful and introspective film, in which magic and a small town's reality meets with man's spirit. I left the film inspired and this, if a film can do anything, must be the greatest achievment for a film. The actors felt in place, though at times their accents might be heavy, and i was througly enjoying this small town's memory, full of fortune and misfortune. I think this is a very rich story and it wasn't lost or bogged down but every scene had one thing in it that reemed the story and proggessed the narrative. I felt connected and i felt wonder in the scale of this story. With the great setpiece of nature, The Shipping News, is an inspiring and heartwarming story.

Annie Proulx may have written a Pulitizer Prize winning novel, but the only thing this adaptation is going to win is a Razzie award...

[crazyrabbits · 1/10 · 10 December 2005]

As you can see from the title of this review, I did not like this film. Not in the least. Basically, this film is about a man named Quoyle (does he even have a first name? Does anyone care?), who after marrying a hooker named Petal (in nothing more than a glorified cameo for Cate Blanchett), who sold his daughter (she's a piece of work herself) to the black-market (!!!) and was killed in a car accident, journeys to Newfoundland at the advice of an aunt named Agnes (played by Judi Dench, who really should know better than this) and gets a job writing articles on boats for this local newspaper company. So, what did I hate about this film?

1) The characters: First of all, Quoyle is an idiot. He falls in love with some random floozy, has the intelligence of a doorknob, doesn't seem to care that his wife brought home random men every night, and has the charisma of a Lima bean. When Quoyle's boat overturned halfway for the movie, I was rooting for the sea to drown him. Petal is also an idiot, just for different reasons. I mean, why in the HELL would you sell your daughter? That is just the most stupid thing I've ever seen.

2) The acting: Now, it's not enough that Spacey recites every line like he's on sleep mode, but seriously, how hard could it be to get Julianne Moore to do a passable Newfoundland accent? She sounds like she's from New Jersey or something. On top of that, she has no chemistry with Spacey. The two of them performing their scenes feels forced and shallow. However, the rest of the cast did a competent job (especially Scott Glenn and Pete Posthelwaite, who I believe can do no wrong).

3) The plot: Here's where we get to the meat and potatoes. These are all the things that me cringe at this film...in no particular order: Quoyle practically drowning as a child and his father doesn't even care; Quoyle telling a woman he's only met for ten minutes that he "loves her"; Petal shoving a donut in Quoyle's mouth after they have sex; Quoyle sitting passively while Petal has sex with some random biker dude; Petal selling her daughter into the black market and then getting killed; Quoyle having visions of things he never even saw (Petal's death); Agnes stealing Guy's ashes, then urinating on them in an outhouse; the fact that almost every person in Newfoundland is depicted as shallow, backstabbing, ignorant individuals (and I have visited Newfoundland, so I will tell you this is NOT the case by any means); the fact that Bunny can see ghosts, feel what an inanimate object is feeling, and has prophetic visions of thing happening; the fact that Quoyle's ancestors were pillaging pirates who dragged their own house across a lake....and that no one bothered to tell Quoyle; the fact that Agnes got raped by her own brother, had an abortion, and then decided to become a lesbian (makes sense to me); the fact that random Newfoundlanders destroyed a boat that a guy who came from Shanghai had finished; squid hamburgers; and the fact that no one bothered to check the "dead" guy who ran the newspaper company (have these people ever heard of checking for VITAL SIGNS???) before they decided to hold a wake for him.

Bottom Line: This film is pure, unadulterated pap. No question about it. It sickens me how so many accomplished actors were assembled for this film, and how little they all accomplished. Avoid it at all costs.

DIfficult to describe...but exceptional if you have the patience.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 29 December 2013]

"The Shipping News" is an exceptionally good film. However, it is so unconventional, so slow and so anti-Hollywood in style that I am pretty sure it's NOT a film that most folks would enjoy. However, if you appreciate a film that accentuates acting and story instead of explosions and breasts, then it may just be the film for you!

Kevin Spacey plays a man simply called 'Quoyle'. Quoyle is a sad sort of man--emotionally constricted and bullied by his uncaring father. Inexplicably, he falls for a woman who turns out to be a complete tramp--and this is being very kindly towards the woman to refer to her this way! The woman is simply no good and cheats on Quoyle--right in front of him. But, he's so dependent and thinks so little of herself that he accepts this. He even grieves when the woman dies after she leaves him AND tries to sell her daughter!! Quoyle has no idea what to do with his life when an aunt he doesn't know (Judi Dench) arrives. Together, they both leave the States and move back to the family homestead in VERY rural Newfoundland. What's next? See the film.

There is a lot more to the film than this but frankly describing the plot is silly, as it's more a slice of life film where the focus is much more on the characters and acting. In other words, what happens is far less important than seeing it happen. A slow but gentle film--I really liked it and wish there were more films like this. Well worth your time if you are patient and don't mind an unconventional story.

morbid quirky tales

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 18 September 2016]

Quoyle (Kevin Spacey) is a meek man struggling in life after his domineering father. He falls for hard-partying Petal (Cate Blanchett) and they have daughter Bunny together. She sells the six-year old to illegal adoption for $6k and dies in a car crash with her boyfriend. Quoyle's father dies and his half-sister Agnis Hamm (Judi Dench) comes to steal his ashes. Quoyle decides to leave upstate New York to live in the ancestral Quoyle home in Newfoundland with Bunny. Despite being only an inksetter, local paper owner Jack Buggit (Scott Glenn) forces him to write the Shipping News and local car wrecks, real and fake. Tert Card (Pete Postlethwaite) is the hard editor. Beaufield Nutbeem (Rhys Ifans) and Billy Pretty (Gordon Pinsent) are fellow reporters. Quoyle falls for widowerer Wavey Prowse (Julianne Moore). Quoyle struggles to write in the morbid newspaper style until he writes about the Hitler boat. Jack gives him his own column.

This is a story of pirates, outlandish tales, and shocking reveals of family traumas. The material is there for something with an unique voice. Kevin Spacey doesn't fit as the meek Quoyle. He's a great actor but he has to really act it up to be this much of a walkover. This movie struggles to find that appealing quirkiness out of these fascinating morbid tales.

Is There A Point Here?

[sddavis63 · 3/10 · 10 August 2002]

I've heard mixed reviews of this movie (and I am well aware that it stirred a fair bit of anger in Newfoundland at what was perceived - rightly, in my view - as its unfair presentation of life on "The Rock" - and I have to confess having now seen it that I just didn't care for it very much.

Kevin Spacey plays Quoyle, an inksetter for a newspaper in Poughkeepsie, New York. Quoyle is - frankly - a bit of a loser. By accident he meets the woman of his dreams one night (Petal, played by Cate Blanchett) and they end up almost immediately married and with a child, except that Petal doesn't take Quoyle, the marriage, motherhood or anything else very seriously. Quoyle is basically an emotionally abused husband, albeit a pretty good dad. Petal is tragically killed and his father dies and he meets his father's sister (Agnis Hamm, played by Judy Dench) who convinces him that he should move to his ancestral home in Newfoundland, where he starts all over.

That's the story. The basic problem - to me - is that it just doesn't seem to go anywhere. Spacey and Dench put on good performances, but I just didn't find it a particularly interesting movie. And there were a number of things that bugged me.

First, the portrayal of Newfoundlanders was offensive. Based on this you'd think everybody in Newfoundland was an incestuous drunkard. Second, How did Quoyle move so easily from New York to Newfoundland? It's true that you wouldn't know it from this movie where the only shot of a flag you see is of an American flag, but Newfoundland is a part of CANADA. You don't just one day up and move from New York to Newfoundland. There are immigration requirements to be met, paperwork to be done, etc., etc., yet Quoyle just seems to up and move. And without any of the legal requirements being met, how does this guy get a job in Canada? Curious. And third - my pet peeve - the wake at the end of the movie is totally ridiculous. I served as a clergyman in Newfoundland for three years in the mid 1990's. What happened at that wake (I won't give it away) might have happened 50 years ago, but not today. They've discovered the fine art of embalming in Newfoundland. The body would be fished from the ocean (most likely by the RCMP), probably autopsied, embalmed at a funeral home and in a small town most likely waked in a church, not somebody's home.

There are some good points here. Spacey and Dench were really quite good in their roles, and there is some excellent photography of the Newfoundland coastline. The story itself, though, just doesn't work. Not for me at least.

3/10