The Shipping News
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Movie Reviews of The Shipping News
Movie Review: "I got used to being invisible"
Summary: 4 Stars
One thing is clear to me after watching this movie; I have to read the book for which Annie Proulx won a Pulitzer. This is an amazing story, with complex characters and which shows the idiosyncrasy of a population that is unknown for most of us. The movie shows how a broken man can heal with the help of loved ones and friends, even in an extremely tough place to live in.Quoyle (Kevin Spacey) had a disastrous childhood, with a demanding father that specialized in pushing him over the edge without giving him any love. As an adult, he works in the print of the Poughkeepsie News as an ink setter and has no one in this world. One day he stops at a gas station and Petal (Cate Blanchett), who was fighting with her boyfriend, gets into Quoyle's car and says: "Let's go". Quoyle has such a need for a little love that he falls right away for Petal, she gets pregnant and they have a baby. But life is not easy for Quoyle; Petal sleeps around without any shame and does not take care of her daughter.
To make matters worse, in a period of a few days Quoyle receives a phone call from his father telling him that he was killing himself and his wife, Petal runs away with their daughter and dies in a car crash, and Quoyle's aunt shows up at his house and steals the ashes of his father. After getting back his daughter and being at a total loss as to how to go on, Quoyle ends up moving to Newfoundland with his aunt and daughter. Here he meets new people, a different culture and new challenges that will change his life.
The photography in this movie is absolutely outstanding, with scenes that leave the viewer breathless. The other aspect to praise, besides the great story, is the cast, in particular Kevin Spacey and Cate Blanchett. Even though the latter has a brief appearance, her role is so convincing, that she deserves credit for the overall outcome of the film. Julianne Moore plays Wavey, the owner of a day care center in Newfoundland that has lost her husband right before giving birth to their child. She does a good job in this role, but I have seen her do better in other scenarios. I am really looking forward to reading the novel and be able to determine how good the movie is in comparison to the book.
Movie Review: Not Great, Not Terrible
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie followed the bones of the book fairly closely -- if I had not read the book I might not have noticed all of the (to me) important parts that were missing. Much of the background detail about the characters' lives was such an integral part of the story that leaving it out made me feel like behind-the-scenes developments were being concealed from the audience. And then it just....ended--very awkwardly, with no conclusion. I am just wondering if maybe some books are too emotionally complex to be made into a movie.As another reviewer said, the director just touched on so many things without any detail about them. I think this movie would have been wonderful if it had been longer. And with such a great cast, I think that audiences would have appreciated it.
I also thought that Kevin Spacey was terribly miscast as Quoyle - his looks just did not fit at all. What could the casting director have been thinking? And although I usually love his acting, in this film it seemed that he played Quoyle, at times, as dimwitted/mentally challenged, soft and cuddly, not at all like the Quoyle of the book.
Almost all of the characters in the movie were quirky and odd, but I do not remember getting that same sense from the book. Different, yes. And some were odd. But not all. It was as though in the movie, only certain characteristics were revealed, leaving anything vaguely normal about the characters on the pages of the book or on the cutting room floor.
The scenery was magnificent and its grimness and wild beauty reflected the inner struggles and remoteness of the characters. The cinematography alone made the movie worth watching. The locale was probably the most important "character" in the film.
I gave this 4 stars, despite my criticisms, because I am not sure that, with the time constraint of two hours, anything better could have been done.
Movie Review: The haunting mysteries made me squirm uncomfortably
Summary: 4 Stars
Staring Kevin Spacy as Quoyle, a loser in life who works as an ink setter at a Poughkeepsie newspaper, this film is adapted from the novel by E. Annie Proulx who specializes in using macabre details in her moody and sad books. Quoyle's wife, played by Cate Blanchett, is a tramp who treats him like dirt and, when she is killed in a car crash and leaves him with their 6-year old daughter, he is an emotional wreck. That's when his aunt, played by Judi Dench enters the scene and convinces him to move back to the place of his roots, a remote village in Newfoundland where he lands a job as a reporter on the town newspaper, and falls for a local woman, Julianne Moore.
This is not a simple story, however, as there are haunting mysteries everywhere, mysteries that made me squirm uncomfortably as they were uncovered. This is not a pleasant film to watch and the story, although fascinating, moved a little too slow for my taste.
Clearly, the best part of the film is the outstanding performance of Kevin Spacey. I always knew he was a good actor, but this is a difficult role as we watch him transform from an emotionally damaged doormat husband into a man. Along the way there are tears and fear and terror. And the way he plays it, it all becomes real. In my opinion, he should have been nominated for an Academy Award.
The setting comes alive and there was great cinematography of the harsh Newfoundland coast. The film is disturbing, as it is supposed to be, but some of the details are never explained to my satisfaction, and, at the end, there were still questions hanging. For that reason I hold off giving it a high recommendation. It is generally good filmmaking though and movie buffs will like it.
Movie Review: BOAT AGAINST THE CURRENT
Summary: 4 Stars
Lalle Hallstrom's keen eye for visual beauty and coaxing restrained but effective performances elevates THE SHIPPING NEWS to a very good movie. Although quite slow at times, the movie effectively illustrates the transformation of a quiet and shy man, a "loser," who finds himself and love in the wilds of Newfoundland. Kevin Spacey does a strong job as Quoyle, who takes his young daughter off to Newfoundland when his wife (the wonderful Cate Blanchett, in a small role) is killed while running off with a lover. Judi Dench plays Quoyle's aunt, a somewhat acerbic and bitter woman, who has her own skeletons. In Newfoundland, Spacey gets a job as the shipping news reporter, and although not qualified for the job, his tenacity and naivete eventually lead to his success. Scott Glenn has a nice role as the gruff owner of the paper. Love comes when Quoyle meets the lovely Wavey, played well by the talented Julianne Moore, who also has her own sad past. Despite a lot of melancholy, the movie has some humorous scenes and a fine cast of supporting actors, including Jason Behr as Glenn's son, Dennis, who exudes a quiet and likeable charm. Christopher Young's musical score is wonderful and adds a lot to the movie's atmosphere.
Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but if you like a good drama with a good story and cast, THE SHIPPING NEWS won't leave you afloat.
Movie Review: Arc de Triomphe
Summary: 4 Stars
Noah's Arc
Joan of Arc
Arc! Who goes there?? A ghost with a white dog! Arrrr!
Every character in this movie arcs to the point of defying gravity. One arcs so steeply, he comes back to life after being dead for several hours.
Definition of a character's arc: an extended or continuing storyline (per wikipedia). It is the personal progression or change a character exhibits. In Punch Drunk Love, Adam Sandler's arc is from an overly passive user of phone porn to an ass-kicking lover.
This film is way worth seeing but not a classic.
A story about Quoyle, a man who no one believed in. Not his father, not his wife, not himself. A man haunted by the sins of his forefathers, freak circumstance brings him back to the land of his said ancestors; a remote, cold, wind blown island whose bedrock rests in the ancient curses of a boisterous past. After landing a job at the local paper, his new unassuming boss displays belief in Quoyle and the winds of change start a blowin'. Quoyle, and almost every other character in the film, starts to over come their painful debilitating past.
Go and rent the DVD. You'll be glad you did.