The Shipping News

Rating:
Summary: BREATHLESS AND MUDDLED
Review: I adore Spacey, Moore, and Blanchett, but this film was simply a structural and emotional botch. I may have missed the oh-so-subtle strokes of Canada and Newfoundland, like nearly the 99.9% of the audience that's not from those areas would.

A book adaptation calls for some, well, adaptation, but why expend all that effort when you can crank up some visual pizzazz and wrap them in mysterious accents from obscure island towns? Such seems to have been the thinking of filmmakers.

Spacey plays a feeble inksetter for a shipping newspaper. He's queuing up for gas one day when Cate Blanchett jumps into his car and shouts Let's Go. Cut to Spacey's place, where the two make out like rabbits in heat. Cut to 9 months later, Blanchett is pregnant and screaming a lot. Cut to 6 years later, they're married with a daughter, though it's not really much of a marriage; he wimps along the sidelines while she ignores her kid and has sex with strange men in the living room. And so forth. The movie, the relationships, the whole human nuances from there move downhill.

This quaint ground is covered in such a compressed rush that we simply have no way of getting involved. None of which was necessary in the first place as all relevant details are referenced in the latter half of the film.

For a movie so muddled in tone and texture, with such an fiercely pathetic lead character, the filmmaking sure has a confident air about it. The acting is good but the funk of weird characters is so stark I can't help suspecting that all this intensity was an intentional trope for the awards.

Rating:
Summary: Marvelous Movie
Review: This is a marvelous movie from start to finish! Three brilliant actors Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore and Judi Dench, help make this a real emotional film. It's a story about "how a broken man" can make his life good. Even with bad starts in life, we all have the the potential to recover. That is the real message of this film. One leaves the showing feeling very optimistic about life. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: Two hours of my life I will never regret
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Moving and Unfortunately overlooked
Review: A beautiful look at love and betrayal, hope and an allegory for salvation! A look at a tiny country most of know little about.
Kevin Spacey, Dame Judy Dench and Julianne Moore gave excellent
performances. There's love, comedy, pain and renewal all in one movie. A must watch!

Rating:
Summary: BOAT AGAINST THE CURRENT
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Read the book & skip the movie!
Review: this movie is terrible...i give it one star because the scenery is beautiful. i loved this book, i loved quoyle and missed him in the end. kevin spacey is not quoyle--mr. spacey doesn't even seem to know quoyle--which is such a shame. how can we come to love quoyle if we can't get to know him.
spend some time reading the book--the two hours you would've spent watching the movie would be better spent with the book.

Rating:
Summary: Shipping News is worth Every Penny
Review: This is amongst my favorite Kevin Spacey films,one of a series of excellent oscar nominated films he has been in in the last few years.If you've ever had that feeling that you grew up somewhere you did'nt belong,and have always felt that you were ment for something better,this film will have every last ounce of your attention drawn to it.

Spacey plays a man who has lived a dysfunctional childhood that messily runs into his adult life.His father being abusive obviously offers no help,other than to remind him how much of a failure&disappointment his son is.Stripped of almost everything most of us take for granted...one day...Spacey meets his wife to be.A woman(played by Cate Blanchet)that none of us would tollerate a relationship with.

Through time,they are married&have a child.Blanchet's character is someone who will use you up for all you have&can give,and will toss you aside when a new oportunity arrives.She suddenly dies durring one of her capers...something of which was bad timing along with the death of both Spacey's parrents.A long lost Aunt(Judy Dench)comes by to pay her respects&take the ashes of Spacey's father home...to New Foundland.A place of which Spacey's character had never heard his father speak of.

Leaving in uncertainly and total confusuion,Spacey is a broken man,going back to a homeland he's has never been to.He goes to discover his roots,the past his father never spoke of and get that one thing back that was missing all his life.This is a fantastic film with an amazing cast.This story is essentially about healing oneself and starting over,and to the very end...you will feel a warm glow inside.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe I'm missing something?
Review: I think this is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. IT was so boring. I threw my copy into the trash! I enjoy watching Kevin Spacey, but this is one time I did not. The whole thing was a boring waste of time for me.

Rating:
Summary: Good!
Review: I bought this movie mainly because I love Judi Dench. I watched the first maybe half-hour or so and then it sat on my shelf for months ... until the other night. I have to say I was very taken with the movie! Kevin Spacey isn't as strong in this one as he is in "American Beauty," but he's good enough to get that Golden Globe nomination (but NOT an Oscar nom.). However, it's really the estrogen end of the movie that took me the farthest. Judi Dench AND Julianne Moore are (were) good enough to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscars, but for some reason were not, and Cate Blanchett probably could have been had she had another scene or two.

But this movie is most memorable (at least for me) because of the wintry/oceanic landscapes that are featured, as the movie takes place in Newfoundland, Canada. And for some strange, inexplicable reason, I have this fixation with water/snow in movies. DON'T ask me!

But a good movie. And it IS on sale for cheap almost everywhere, so go ahead; you won't be sorry!