| The Shipping News |
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| Rating: Good Distributor: Miramax Films Release Date: December 25th, 2001 Running Length: 1 hour, 58 minutes MPAA Rating: R Genre: Drama Director: Lasse Hallstrom Cast: Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, Scott Glenn, Jason Behr, and Cate Blanchett. |
| picture above from www.hollywood.com/multimedia/detail/media/1098873 |
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| Plot: Quoyle (Kevin Spacey) is a simple minded man, capable of wisdom. He marries a woman who doesn't love him, named Petal (Cate Blanchett). They have a child, named Bunny, who Petal neglects. Petal has numerous affairs with other men during their marriage, and eventually dies after running off a bridge in her car with another man. Still, Quoyle loves her, and is hurt by her death. During the same time period his parents die. He is less hurt by his parents death; he is not happy, but rather unmoved. However, when his aunt, Agnis (Judi Dench) arrives at his house to look for Quoyle's parents dead bodies his life will take a course for the better. Agnis is moving back to their ancestral home Newfoundland, and Quoyle decides to join her. Quoyle brings his dauther, and there they discover a new life, and mend old wounds. He finds a woman, Wavey (Julianne Moore), and he finds happiness working for the local paper. |
| Critique: The Shipping News is a well crafted, engaging, and witty film. Director Lasse Hallstrom is extraordinarily gifted, yet this film is not nearly as beautiful as his best films. In The Shipping News, he still works magic, but he does not wield the filmmaking magic he is capable of. The Shipping News is natural and graceful. Moreover, the acting is very strong, and the whole cast is genuine. Hallstrom is extremely skilled with actors, and with the help of a talented cast the performances in the film are very polished. Oliver Stapleton is a wonderful cinematographer, and his photography in the film is exquisite. He helps craft the cold, but intimate mood. Also, Christopher Young creates an affecting score. The film's wonderful filmmaking elements combine to create an artful motion picture. Although the filmmaking was polished the script had problems. Robert Nelson Jacobs wrote a strong adapted screenplay for Chocolat, but his adapted screenplay for this film has several distinct flaws. First, the relationship between Kevin Spacey (Quoyle) and Julianne Moore (Wavey) is vague, and never seems completely real. Two, many of the plot points do not cohere in a satisfactory way. I have heard that the novel does not adapt easily to film. Indeed, Jacobs might have been given a hopeless task from the start. Nonetheless, the film's most significant flaws lie in the script. There were good attributes of the script too, as the film contained many life like supporting characters. The Shipping News is a lovely, eccentric production. The direction, cinematography, and score in the film are all superb. The acting was very strong, for the most part. However, Kevin Spacey overacts a little towards the end of the film. His acting is very good as a whole, but not without flaws. The most problematic element of the film was its script, which lacked important details. Still, the film is very good. I highly recommend The Shipping News, a work of quality artistry. review by supernothingman |