The Shipping News Reviews

A congenital looser named Quoyle, after having dealt with multiple blows in life, moves with his daughter to his ancestral homeland, Newfoundland, at the urging of his long-lost Aunt, Agnis (Judi Dench). There he befriends a serene single mother, Wavey Prowse(Julianne Moore) and gradually finds himself accepted into that remote community.

Once the story makes the transition to the snowy coasts of Newfoundland, I found myself elevated to a whole another level of movie experience. Maybe it has to do something with the going-back-to-roots premise of the movie. Photographic grandeur of the breathtaking landscapes plays its part in that feeling too.

Movie features powerful performances from a clutch of well recognized talents. The simple story can basically be described as one about our search for a place in the world and about coming to grips with the past. Lass Hallstrom, who gave us "What's eating Gilbert Grape", leaves you with a similar experience when you're through with this movie.

Not a Corvette this film but rather a stationwagon with room for many (and their assorted baggage) and not a film for everyone, this story of a family returning to it's small town roots I found hypnotic. It's my favorite Spacey film, instantly, Dench was solid as an oak, and Julianna Moore did not offend me for a change.

An interesting family movie - with all sorts of A list stars. Kevin Spacey plays Quoyle, who starts his live over after he goes back to his ancestral home in Newfoundland. I liked the acting by Quoyle's daughter who is played by three sisters (at different ages I presume). I also liked the set - the stark Newfoundland seashore.

Cast: Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Pete Postlethwaite, Scott Glenn, Rhys Ifans, Gordon Pinsent, Jason Behr, Larry Pine

Director: Lasse Hallström

Summary: Distraught after the disappearance of his estranged wife, Quoyle (Kevin Spacey) and his daughter move into their ancestral home with his long-lost aunt (Judi Dench) in Newfoundland, where life is rough and secrets are buried deep. When Quoyle lands a job as a reporter for the local newspaper, a past emerges, a mystery unfolds and life awakens. Lasse Hallström directs this drama based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by E. Annie Proulx.

My Thoughts: "Such a great story. Kevin Spacey delivers another flawless performance. He is a favorite of mine and he never disappoints in any film he does. His character Quoyle, in the beginning seemed very naive and to be honest, pathetic. Though his new life in Newfoundland brings with it a fresh start, and you slowly see his demeanor change. He becomes confident and strong in the sense of him finally finding himself. The story itself is a bit depressing in the beginning, but the mood changes throughout the film . The tale is sad, but the ending is satisfying. I liked the symbolism of the house. Just a great story with a great cast. Love Judi Dench. See it if you haven't."

HEADLINE: A movie to stir the soul.

At first I thought it is going to be a boring Movie, but I still rented it. I was surprised how Beautiful this Movie is. Kevin Spacey was Brilliant in his role. I wonder where this Movie was filmed. Beautiful Place wherever it was.

The beginning was a little too fast and confusing however the story was really good and the cast fitted in really well together and gave good performances. At times it was a little boring but I was always guessing at what was going to happen next. Loved the setting and the feel of the movie though.

As offbeat and moving as some of Lasse Hallström other great works. The writing is really good, the camera work is nice, and the performances are also quite good.

Pretty good movie with heart warming touch. A man makes a journey to self-discovery when he returns to his ancestral home on the coast of Newfoundland. After the death of his estranged wife, Quoyle's fortunes begin to change when his long lost Aunt Agnis convinces him to head north with his daughters. He relocates to the small coastal village of Killick-Claw. Now, in a place where life is as rough as the weather and secrets are as vast as the ocean, Quoyle lands a job as a reporter for the local newspaper. He reports on the shipping news as he simultaneously attempts to adjust to his new life and surroundings. In the course of his new career, he confronts private demons, discovers dark family mysteries and finds love with a lonely single mother who has a secret of her own.

"The Shipping News" An inksetter in New York, Quoyle returns to his family's longtime home, a small fishing town in Newfoundland, with his young daughter, after a traumatizing experience with her mother, Petal, who sold her to an illegal adoption agency. Though Quoyle has had little success thus far in life, his shipping news column in the newspaper "The Gammy Bird" finds an audience, and his experiences in the town change his life.

Pulitzer prize-winning source material is shaped into a somewhat tired self-discovery story. The heavy-handed emotional approach leaves the viewer feeling disconnected, and a lot of character dynamics feel underwritten or completely unexplained. As a fan of this type of story in general, I did enjoy it, and Hallström brings a uniquely beautiful mood to the picture that transcends the flimsy adaptation. Kevin Spacey turns in a brave, effective performance that opposes expectations of the type of character he normally plays. The acting is quite solid all around, aside from a miscast Julianne Moore. Whether or not people will enjoy this movie depends on whether or not they want to.

It stars Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore and Cate Blanchett - three of the finest actors working today - and is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Annie "Brokeback Mountain" Proulx. It couldn't possibly fail.... yet it does; this is spectacularly, embarrassingly bad.

Lasse is an assured director, but the material here could have been better. The dances between rushing toward its finale and then a snails pace, but we never connect to the characters and despite how good it looks, its never that memorable.

The book was dull, that should have been my first clue. Julianne Moore strikes again!

like being hit in the face with wet newspaper

Judi Dench and Julianne Moore make this movie a must.

There was many a story in this complicated tale. But they are woven together to make a sincere story that is beautiful and believable. The cast lives up to their reputation and changes from their typical roles to characters that you identify with and hope for. It got a little odd with the whole incest/lesbian short snippet, but taken with a grain of salt, it's still great.

I want to experience Newfoundland as they showed it in the movie, including the seal knuckle pie. Although, I hope that no one would destroy my means of transport home as they destroyed the Chinese Junk. Also, someday I will have a picture of an oil tanker hanging in my home to commemorate this beauty.

In Short: A kind-hearted father and his small daughter move to the Newfoundland countryside of their ancestors after a tragic accident, where he must learn to fit in, and hopefully heal.


To anyone who watched Lord of the Rings and thinks Cate Blanchett is just this well of elf-like beauty, poise, love and grace ? HA.

The story of The Shipping News starts with Quoyle, a young-ish man who has seen himself as a failure all his life because, as a young boy, his father pushed him into the river to teach him how to swim, but he never learned. After that, his outlook on life had been totally destroyed, and he aspired to minimalism, getting sleep-inducing jobs as a ticket-checker, a dish-washer, and an ink setter. But one day, while on his way home after a particularly unsatisfactory day at his workplace, scruffy, worldly-naïve Quoyle sees a man and a beautiful young woman arguing, and, before he knows it, the woman has let herself into his car and is telling him to drive, which he does. Over a cheap meal, the woman introduces herself as ?Petal?, and seduces Quoyle, telling him that she wants to fuck him ? then and there. After a rousing round, Quoyle confesses his love to her. She is the best thing to ever happen to him in his disappointing life.

Soon after, Petal begrudgingly bears him the child she conceived during their round of sex ? a beautiful baby girl, whom they name Bunny. Quoyle soon finds himself the lone caretaker for Bunny, as Petal is constantly at bars, or hooking up with other men and bringing them home for one-night stands. Soon, Quoyle gets a call from his father telling him that he and Quoyle?s mother had decided to commit suicide, because they decided ?it was about time?. When Quoyle tells Petal that he has been left with nothing, she decides to run away with her current boyfriend, taking Bunny with them and leaving Quoyle alone.

Quoyle reports this to the police, and soon his wife and daughter are found. His daughter is returned to him ? but his wife is dead. After selling Bunny to a black-market adoption agency for six thousand dollars, Petal and her boyfriend took a slippery bridge road, lost control of the car, and cascaded off the side, their car getting caught on the railing, both dying on contact. Quoyle is then visited by the sister of his late father, who takes him and his little daughter back to Newfoundland with her to get to know the land their ancestors originated from ? and hopefully to help him and his daughter heal from their scarred past.

For the first twenty minutes of the film, it was very good. VERY good. Quoyle was one of the most sympathetic characters I have ever seen in any film I?ve ever watched. And, as he begins to grow as a person and become something more than just a failure, you would think he would grow to be an even more likeable character ? independent, a better father, successful. Instead, Quoyle, as he gains independence and gets to know the people and the land around him, becomes a whiny, bratty little bitch. If something goes wrong, he has to complain to someone about it. If something horrible happens, he can?t just learn to let it go, he has to yell at someone about it ? usually someone who had nothing to do with it in the first place.

And Bunny? Bunny is cute, but MAN is she bizarre. Petal told her once that ?Daddy is boring?, and from them on, she has judged everything as being ?boring?, from her doll, which she destroys in a fit of anger, to the children of the village, including the special-needs child of the woman in which Quoyle develops an interest ? but pretty much destroys any chance of being with by drinking himself stupid and trying to rape her, then passing out on her kitchen floor.

I would not recommend purchasing this film. I did, and I wasted a whole eight dollars. However, the soundtrack is phenomenal, full of the sounds of native Newfoundland. If the plot of the film, however, intrigues you, then you should perhaps rent it ? if you can find it.

This movie was so sad to me . I think it is one of Kevin Spacey's best films ( aside from American Beauty)