Rating: 
Summary: Not for lovers of the book
Review: The Shipping News movie has the misfortune to be based on a beautiful, slightly odd novel that is difficult to adapt to film. The main shortcomings of the movie are what's lost in translation. The events seem compressed and rushed, taking place impossibly quickly compared to the book's spread-out pace. Anguish is brief and redemption seems relatively cheap; just wait around for a few scenes and everything will work out.Even if you haven't read the book, the movie may not be for you. Scott Glenn's Newfie accent lapses so often it's distracting. In fact, everyone's accent is distracting, and it makes it harder to take the characters seriously as people, not caricatures. And everything happens so quickly it's hard to summon enough emotional investment to care about the twists, when they happen. There are some redeeming qualities. The scenery is beautiful. Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, and Rhys Ifans (unfortunately underused) turn in nice performances. There are a few scenes that shine with simple honesty. Unfortunately, though, not enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing drama
Review: One would think Lasse Hallström could easily produce a winner with a cast such as that of "The Shipping News" but for some reason this film seems lacking strength and cohesiveness. Performances by Spacey and Moore (both of whom never disappoint) are in top form and Blanchette delivers a strong character as well (though it borders on melodrama at a few points). Hallström's direction, while not quite as sharp as in "Chocolat", resonates more consistently than with "Cider House Rules" (a real hit-and-miss film) but ultimately does not bring a superior cinematic work out of the story. The repetition of the drowning theme is a predictable and trite device made more unbearable by its inconsistent meaning(s). The use of a voice-over narrative stutters the film's beginning and end rather than punctuate them. Dench's Eve-figure is hackneyed to the point of being totally ineffective and her performance left one to wonder if the use of shots from further back are to create distance or to just avoid placing any emphasis at all on her miserable body-language and painted-on sneer. And frequently (with respect to dialogue as a narrative convention) we find the film emerging as obfuscatingly oblique instead of subtle. This, combined with an unresolved ending (and we're not talking unresolved in the post-modern sense, more like "so....?" sense) leaves one disappointed and still searching for a reason to enjoy it. The "point" of the story/film is certainly a positive one but you've got to get over its iceberg tip to get there. Expert camera work and excellent performances from Spacey and Moore are what pull this film up from being a total wash.
Rating:
Summary: A broken man can be healed
Review: The Shipping News is based on Annie Prouix's Pullitzer prize-winning novel. It tells the story of a broken man, a lonely man who has been undermined since childhood. Quoyle (played by Kevin Spacey) is in a dead-end job as a typesetter for the Poughkeepsie News in New York when he meets and marries Petal. Marriage and even his role of Father fail to change or lift Quoyle. It is only after both his Wife and Father die and he is persuaded by his long lost aunt (played by Dame Judi Dench) to move back to his ancestral home in Newfoundland in Canada that a process of change within Quoyle begins. It's by no means all plain sailing! Quoyle finds out many secrets about his past and the small community he now lives amongst as he settles into the community. Though the backdrop of Newfoundland is bleak (though beautiful) the story itself becomes less so after the move. We see Quoyle begin to gain strength and confidence when supported by friends, family and neighbours. Where before he was frightened to tell his daughter simply that her mother was dead he now feels able to do so. He begins to come to terms with the "unfinished business" of his childhood. The message of the film is positive -a broken man can be healed.
Rating:
Summary: Good but depressing
Review: Kevin Spacey shine's again, he is quite the brilliant actor, however be warned the plot to this film is not one that is going to entertain you and make you feel good after watching it. Although it is an EXCELLENT story, it is very depressing. Worth a look though!
Rating: 
Summary: Lasse Hallström Scores For Me Yet Again
Review: I've been watching this director's films since when he was a European film director, starting with his wonderful "My Life As A Dog." I was worried when he started making American films because I thought he'd turn into another action adventure director, which is what we tend to do with Europe's best directing talent. However, Hallström has continued to make serious, artistic films in the ensuing years and I, for one, am grateful. I've never seen a film of his that didn't totally engross me and this one is no exception. I tried reading the novel upon which this is based and I put it down time and time again. Finally, I gave up on it as too literary. So I was very happy that I could watch the movie straight through without any hangups from its source Pulitzer prize winning novel. Kevin Spacey is the main character and we follow his life from being a nerd in New York with a wife (Cate Blanchett) who is gorgeous but a real low life. When she dies in a car wreck, his aunt (Judi Densch) talks him into moving to Newfoundland with her and his daughter to reinvent his life. He does so as a newspaper reporter there. There is also a lot of magical realism and mysticism going on in this movie, which I found very absorbing, plus humor. Scott Glenn plays one of his best roles ever as the irascible newspaper owner, Jack, and he provides great comic relief for the film. Every actor in this film gives an A performance. It is a dream cast and I can't imagine casting it differently. If you are not already a fan of Hallström's work, you should be. I bought this movie the instant I saw his name on it.
Rating:
Summary: WALLOWING IN A SEA OF ...!!
Review: I think what Lasse Hallstrom did, was take the book, ripped out the pages, drew a circle on the floor, climbed up a 12 ft. ladder and threw the pages into the air and what came down , into this circle-is-what he decided to bring onto the screen. Well, it must have been a very thick book, as it seems he had way too much material out there. None of the characters were fully developed. We have Spacey whimpering around making baby-sounds and the tone of his voice was exactly as he spoke -under hypnosis in K-Pak . He actually , at times reminded me of a mentally challenged person, the way he carried himself, the way he walked and the way he talked. Granted he had some reason to act strange with a father like he had. Emotionally drained,he was! And I think the scene's with Pedal should have been dumped and the rescue of Jason Behr (Dennis Buggit) by his father Scott Glenn (Jack Buggit) woulf have made a more adventuresome footage. I felt like the house they were dragging over the ice-Come on-come on, shake it, lets go. And the scene with Judi Dench putting her brother's ashes down the one-seater in the out-house could sum-up my feelings regarding the whole film. The cinematography was spectacular, but there was way to much to deal with, and I laughed out-right when Scott Glenn came back to life after the sea claiming him as the curse of the Buggit's called for-as they were carting him off in the ambulance, he tells Jason,(Dennis) "son ,I have broken the curse, and now you can have your fishing licence", the camera catches Jason and the look on his face was not happiness. There were a few light scene's but not many and the storm's keep arriving and the gloom and rain and thunder and fog make for a sea of ... *** stars for cinematography!
ciao yaaah69
Rating:
Summary: Sentimental Canadians
Review: This is a story about Kevin Spacey who is an idiot who has a kid with an even bigger idiot played by Cate Blanchett. Spacey gets stuck with a kid from the relationship and somehow Judy Dench shows up. They go to Canada or some damn place where it's cold in May to raise the kid and discover the hidden past of the family. Every person in the film seems to have some mysterious secret which you can assume is better explained in the book and this is supposed to lead to intrigue. ... If you like sentimental drivel set in Canada you will love this.
Rating: 
Summary: Tedious
Review: I won't rehash the plot since it is painfully relived in so many of the reviews. The reason for my low rating is you can see the tragedies stacking up long before they arrive. Is the lack of love from his wife enough? No so let's have her be openly promiscuous, then have her leave with a lover, then take the child Spacey so adored but she seemed to scorn. Is this enough? No have her attempt to sell the child then have the child 'blame' herself and her father for the sequence of events. And this is the opening gambit that the rest of the film pulls out the stops to top with more misery,more woe, more shame. I found the Bunny role extraneous. Mainly shows up to turn the hurt on immediately after Spacey's latest boot to his karmic head. She cries on cue, asks the childlike heartwrenching question on cue and misdirects parental loathing on cue. Subtlety is not this movie's forte. If you enjoy being blatantly manipulated into 'feeling' for a blob - this movie is your ticket. Yes it is beautifully filmed, yes it captures the essence of the northeast, yes it has quirky characters and some great bit performances - but no, it is not a good movie. It takes more than good actors and a good story to make a good movie and Shipping News missed the mark entirely.
Rating:
Summary: Victim Feminism to the Core
Review: This movie proved to me once an for all that successful female writers of our day have only one plot line (no matter how much they try to disguise it). And at the heart of this movie is the same old tired women-as-victim theme that indicates a staggering lack of imagination. The landscape was pretty.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Great, Not Terrible
Review: 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.
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