The Shipping News
by Lasse Hallström
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Julianne Moore, Kevin Spacey, Pete PostlethwaiteDirector: Lasse Hallström
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Producer: Bob Weinstein
Producer: Diana Pokorny
Producer: Harvey Weinstein
Producer: Irwin Winkler
Producer: Leslie Holleran
Writer: Annie Proulx
Writer: Robert Nelson Jacobs
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Unknown; Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Unknown; French (Original Language), Unknown
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 111 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-06-18
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Miramax
Movie Reviews of The Shipping News
Movie Review: Two hours of my life I will never regret
Summary: 5 Stars
I am so glad I took the time to watch this movie!
As I writer myself, I am often critical of others' work. But this is one of those movies that was so well written, and so well made, that while I was watching it I could only sit there thinking: I wish I'd had the skill to write this.
Like a tapestry, the threads of the story weave together to make a magnificent whole, of which every part is simply beautiful. It is subtle yet bold, slow moving yet frenetic, ordinary yet extraordinary, exhilarating yet sad, and hilarious yet serious.
The directing is superb, the cinematography magical, and the cast top notch, comprising some of the best actors from at least three continents of the world. The scripting is wonderful and insightful, with not a wasted word, and has a sly sense of humour that sneaks up on you and catches you unawares. But whilst the dialogue is at all times brilliant, sometimes the cleverest things about the script are actually the things that AREN'T said--the implications, the realisations you are left with. This is definitely a movie that will make you think, and make you feel.
If you asked me to describe the plot of this movie, I truly couldn't. The basic premise is 'man loses wife and parents, moves back to ancestral home'. Sound ordinary, doesn't it? But this story is anything BUT ordinary. It twists, and turns, and fools you into thinking it's flowing slowly and gently, even while it is constantly throwing unexpected surprises at you (the one thing this film is NOT is predictable!) I was rivetted to the screen throughout the entire film, and that's saying something, because like many people in my generation, I usually have the attention span of a goldfish.
I have read the other reviews on this page, and I must say, some of them seemed to miss the point of this movie. One reviewer complained that you never really get to know the characters properly at the start of the movie. But as I see it, that's a good thing. At the beginnning, we know as much about the characters as they know about themselves--only what matters to get by. But as the movie progresses, the characters, especially the main ones, learn more about themselves, and in the process, we learn more about them too. Seriously, if every detail about the characters had been explained to us right from the start, it would have defeated the point of this movie, which is a voyage of discovery for both the characters and the viewers. It would have been like Agatha Christie revealing on page one that the butler did it. Where would the fun be in that? The reviewer also complained that he did not 'connect' with the characters. But I disagree, because I totally did, especially the main character, who had been told for so long that he was a pathetic good-for-nothing that he ended up believing it. He is downtrodden, bullied, the kind of man who lives a life so ordinary that no-one notices him...until the day when he does get noticed by a girl called Petal, and his life changes forever. Anyone who has ever felt hard done by, anyone who has ever been bullied, anyone who has had an imperfect family life, and anyone who has ever yearned to do more with their life, but wasn't entirely sure how, will empathise with this man from the first moment of the movie. He is drowning in the misery of his life. But given time, he might actually learn to swim...
I don't know why this movie never scored big at the Oscars or the Golden Globes. Perhaps Julianne Moore should have put on a big fake nose or something, since that was enough to win Nicole Kidman the best actress award!
This movie is great. You really should see it. But just in case you need any extra reason to watch it, let me tell you, the music soundtrack totally kicks butt! Oh, and the role of Petal is played by Cate Blanchett, who all you Lord of the Rings fans will know very well. Only, don't expect her to be quite so beautiful and wise and benevolent in THIS role!
Summary of The Shipping News
After tragedy strikes quoyle a hapless lonely upstate new yorker decides to move he and his daughter to his ancestral home in newfoundland. In the small fishing village of killick-claw quoyle secures a job as a reporter at the local newspaper. Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 04/05/2005 Starring: Kevin Spacey Judi Dench Run time: 111 minutes Rating: RFans of Lasse Hallström's truffle, Chocolat, may enjoy the director's subsequent novel adaptation, the emotionally charged Shipping News. The opening sequence introduces us to the bumbling Quoyle (Kevin Spacey), an ink setter at the Poughkeepsie News; his hedonistic wife Petal Bear (Cate Blanchett); and their daughter Bunny. But we hardly get to meet the characters, much less connect with them, in the fewer than eight minutes allotted for the scene. Before you know it, Petal is dead in a car wreck, Quoyle's parents have committed suicide, and Quoyle and Bunny are headed off with Quoyle's aunt Agnis (Judi Dench) to start over in a small Newfoundland port town. As the main story ensues--Quoyle's transformation from passive victim to sensitive lover and eloquent columnist--the subplot of his sordid family history and his aunt's search for healing seems contrived and lifeless. While Julianne Moore, as the widow Wavey, gives a solid performance as Quoyle's love interest, Spacey's performance is uneven, never convincingly at sea enough to reward Quoyle's ultimate self-discovery. As with so many films adapted from novels, The Shipping News fails to embark confidently enough upon its own course to keep off the rocks. --Fionn Meade
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