The Shipping News (2001)

BUT NOT FOREVER

Had this movie been released in the last few years, it would have swept the Oscars. Most of us were still reeling from 9/11 when it came out...

So many factors make it a hidden gem:

Spacey's performance -- Great plot and brilliant script -- The entire cast -- Hauntingly beautiful soundtrack -- Breathtaking scenery and cinematography.

Watched it for the first time the other day, and gave it 9 out of 10. It has transfixed me so much that I must now give it a 10.

Thank goodness I found it on Netflix. Still spellbound.

Fmovies: As a man with some very strong Newfoundland roots, let me comment on this movie.

First, I was not a BIG fan of the book. Proulx's writing style, while unique and engaging for athe first hundred pages, quickly becomes cloying and irritating in the last 200. While here characters were elegantly and ingeniously crafted (Billy Pretty, both in tyhe pages and on the screen by Newfie Gordon Pinsent being the best of the bunch), and here sparse descriptions of the Newfoundland landscape befitting the sparse and bare Western Shore (although there are some mighty fine towns along that same coast), here characterization of Newfoundlanders is very 'look-down-your-nose' - they are all rustic, and seem never to have seen any modern convieniences, and are second kin to the McCoys of the American Ozarks. When, in the movie, Quoyle confronts the Old Qouyle who has been cursing the house, we can almost hear the banjo from "Deliverance"; when they actually show Guy raping Agnes (a needless scene - we know he does it, the guy just told us. It serves no purpose...), I imagines the movies title to be "Deliverance II: The Newfoundland Connection"

This is the biggest problem I have; in the book, there is a line "Incest is a way of life in Newfoundland." and in the movie when Quoyle discovers his grandfather was 12 when he died, and Agnes says "You don't know Newfoundlanders." These strike me a the sort of thing Mainlanders have been saying about Newfoundlanders for years. The book was written, after all, by an American...

The movie itself is a good movie. Kevin Spacey (my favorite actor of all), turns in a good performance, not a great one, though he gets Quoyle just about spot on if you cut away all the parts about how fat Quoyle is and he is 10 times more insecure than Spacey portrays him, but maybe thats a problem of script. Dame Judi Dench gives a marvelous portrayal of Agnes, and the staff of the Gammy Bird one and all are spot on perfect in their roles. Dench, Scott Glenn as Jack Buggit, Pete Postlethwaite (one of the best character actors around) as Tert Card, and the Welsh guy as one of the best characters Nutbeem, and the best guy in the movie, maybe because he's from Newfoundland, Gordon Pinsent as Billy Pretty. Cate Blanchett is also remarkable as Petal.

I voted 8 out of 10 - good, not great. Lord of the Rings will take Best Picture and best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director, but Dench my get Best Actress, and Gordon Pinsent deserves a nod for Best Supporting Actor.

I was very impressed with The Shipping News for several reasons: the location should win an Oscar alone, Hallstrom's magical minimalist direction and the acting by the major leads and perhaps even more wonderful, by the many minor parts, were outstanding.

The beauty of the story, involving as it does many all-to-familiar dramas that are easily recognized by people anywhere, was used as a springboard to explore a little known area of the world and to bring much needed illumination on rarely discussed social problems.

To actually see such a beautiful movie shot on location in the magnificent surrounds of Newfoundland should lead film makers away from the sterility of southern California and the too-used streets of New York. I guess I've had my fill of movies about what Hollywood has been dishing out and I've gotten thoroughly jaded with virtually everything made by them.

The Shipping News fmovies. I had seen the good rating of Shipping News before I watched it, and I would like to give it a shot.

Lasse Hallström did a good job when he directed The Cider House Rules, and Kevin Spacey is of course a good actor with movies like The Usual Suspects, LA Confidential and K-Pax. Furthermore we got supporting actresses such as the lovely Julianne Moore and talented Cate Blanchett, it was promising.

The movie is mostly a drama, but it succeeds in giving the audience some laughs when needed, which is important to me. Dramas can be too depressing sometimes, but it is of course sometimes needed to make a statement. Anyway, it is not needed in Shipping News and Lasse Hallström understands this very well.

The acting is great, the stars I mentioned earlier deliver good performances, but we also get the pleasure to watch other good actors too, so the cast really gives us a good movie.

Actually there are mainly positive things to say about this movie, the picture quality was good and the environment at Newfoundland created a good atmosphere. The only thing I would critisise is that the movie maybe could have been a bit longer, there were a few issues that I would like to have seen sorted out.

I have rated this movie 7/10, but it maybe deserved a little more. It is definitely worth watching.

Often when watching a film with a cast which has more Oscar nominations in their careers than the film has minutes, a level of expectations will be engraved which exceeds far above a film than which one should. Such is an example with the poignant, touching and often funny film, The Shipping News.

The Shipping News is film about loss, recovery, pain, but most of all, recovery. When a person loses a loved one, or in this case, a person who loses someone they think they love, it comes with a package of emotional stress and remorse. The person they lose is immortalized within their thoughts, usually in a positive, memorable perspective.

The story begins with a narration by Quoyle (Spacey), and through this depressing and self defeating narration, we learn that Quoyle is man who has never succeeded in anything, is a failure in his family's eyes, and has never accomplished one thing in his entire life. He struggles through every miserable task he is given, he aches at the thought of one more day.

As a defeated man who has never loved, never laughed, and never succeeded, he is desperate for something, desperate for someone. When he meets a woman named Petal (Blanchett) he thinks he's in love. We see a woman who is looking for a costumer, looking for someone to spend the night with. Quoyle sees a wife, someone to spend the rest of his life with. So without hesitation, he takes a swing at this wild tiger. He thinks he has achieved that echelon of happiness. He has a darling little girl, he has a wife, and he has a steady job. But he soon learns that one person, a person he has known for little over a few years, can turn his life upside down. After a realistic and inevitable chain of events, he is back to his pitiful little life. Only this time, he's lost more than he can handle. His own emotional attachments have become his own emotional destruction.

In the midst of these happenings, Quoyle is met at the door by his Aunt Agnis (Dench), whom he has never met. She suggests they begin a new future, for she too has lost something. She decides that they should travel to their native roots, in Newfoundland. The future looks bleak to Quoyle, but only the happiest of times look ahead to Agnis. At least from our perspective.

Throughout the film we are met by several supporting characters played by familiar and not so familiar actors. These characters, while they may seem supporting, play the largest part in the film. For these characters are the building blocks which help Quoyle begin his `transformation'. These are the people which help Quoyle recognize his roots and why he must belong there. Throughout these characters, we are met with many intertwining storylines which could make a whole entire film by themselves. But these characters are all here to help one man find a reason. A reason for being.

Throughout this masterful tale of loss, recovery, and pain, we discover that problems exist within problems. We learn that the future may result in failure, but will always have an answer. The answer lies within Quoyle himself. While these supporting players may have an impact on Quoyle's job and home, Quoyle is the only one who can help find happiness for himself.

With a star-studded cast which shines with the inspiring score by Christopher Young, Lasse Hallstrom has created a film which should not be overlooked, but should be look upon as a film which displays how courage, love, and faith, can overcome loss, struggle, and pain.

Having read the brilliant and seamless novel - and believing that movie adaptations of novels rarely succeed - I did not expect to like this movie. Much to my surprise, I found the film totally successful. Kevin Spacey - who seemed to be an odd choice for the role - is perfect as Coyle, capturing the true spirit of the character and proving himself to be one of the finest movie actors of his generation. Judi Dench is, as always, just right. Julianne Moore (I was not previously familiar with her work) is astonishing. The look of the movie...the tone...the screenplay all work - as an adaptation of the novel and as a film unto itself. I do not understand why this movie did not garner more recognition. I strongly recommend it to those who have read the novel and those who have yet to experience Annie Proulx remarkable prose.