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Movies / On DVD / The Shipping News
The Shipping News

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The Shipping News (2001)

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Reviews Counted:127

Fresh:70

Rotten:57

Average Rating:5.8/10

Consensus: Though solidly made and acted, The Shipping News is rather heavy-handed and dull, especially given the nature of its protagonist.

Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Lasse Hallstrom (CHOCOLAT, MY LIFE AS A DOG) presents this strong, quiet, chillingly deep adaptation of the popular novel by E. Annie Proulx. In a fishing port set in the Canadian province of... Lasse Hallstrom (CHOCOLAT, MY LIFE AS A DOG) presents this strong, quiet, chillingly deep adaptation of the popular novel by E. Annie Proulx. In a fishing port set in the Canadian province of Newfoundland, newspaper journalist Quoyle (Kevin Spacey), his young daughter Bunny (Alyssa Gainer), and his stern aunt Agnis Hamm (Dame Judi Dench) have reclaimed their ancestral home, which stood vacant for 40 years perched over the raging sea on the edge of a cliff. The fresh air and the mundane routine of the sleepy village act as a balm for Quoyle's wounds. Having grown up with unhappy parents who cautioned him that he'd never amount to anything, Quoyle thought he'd finally found a stroke of luck when he fell in love with Petal (a surprisingly slutty but no less beautiful Cate Blanchett), Bunny's mother. However, after Petal's sudden death, and the simultaneous passing of his loveless parents, Quoyle's migration from downtrodden Poughkeepsie, N.Y. to coastal Canada is his salvation. As Quoyle gains confidence and pride daily through his coworkers at the tiny newspaper the Gammy Bird, through his friendship with Wavey (a lovely Julianne Moore), and through his reconciliation with some spooky family secrets from the distant past, Quoyle, Bunny, and Agnis slowly find new direction, new hope, and the beginnings of a new life. [More]

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Scott Glenn, Rhys Ifans, Gordon Pinsent, Jason Behr, Larry Pine, Jeannetta Arnette, Robert Joy, Alyssa Gainer, Lauren Gainer, Kaitlyn Gainer, Will MCallister

Director: Lasse Hallström

Director: Lasse Hallström
Screenwriter: Robert Nelson Jacobs
Producer: Irwin Winkler, Leslie Holleran, Linda Goldstein Knowlton
Composer: Christopher Young
Studio: Miramax Films

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for The Shipping News

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101 - 120 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Deals with weighty issues and is intellectually intriguing, but I found myself uninvolved from start to finish.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
12/25/01
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

It's worth seeing at the very least because it is so different from standard Hollywood fare.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
12/25/01
Rita Kempley
Rita Kempley
Washington Post

Moves at a glacial pace, much like the icy land it's set in. And even a top-notch cast can't warm up the atmosphere.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
12/25/01
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today

Everything has a fusty, embalmed quality: Whatever gave the novel its vitality has been smothered.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
12/25/01
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The interior monologues and intense detail of the book don't transfer well to the big screen. When a guy is this bored with himself, why should we argue otherwise?

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
12/25/01
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star

Preserves the wry humor and spare language of E. Annie Proulx's novel, adding only a minimal amount of sentimental glop.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
12/25/01
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Hallstrom works poetic wonders with the howling winds, roiling seas and rocky coastline.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
12/25/01
Todd Anthony
Todd Anthony
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

A meticulous and often moving adaptation from Lasse Hallström.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
12/25/01
Moira MacDonald
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times

Hallström weaves his wand, and Proulx's characters and end-of-the-world setting come magically alive with just the right touch of authenticity, enigmatic mystery and eccentric flair.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
12/25/01
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Hallstrom and screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs deftly sidestep sentimentality in favor of subtlety, and the talented cast, lead by Spacey, follows their lead.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
12/25/01
Ross Brooks
Ross Brooks
Citysearch

Feels like a CliffsNotes version of the novel where we're told the superficial story, but don't sense the underlying emotional turmoil.

Full Review Source: Screen It! | comment Comment
12/25/01
Jim Judy
Jim Judy
Screen It!

Hallstrom injects a little magic realism here, a fantasy flashback there, but without Proulx's language, what's left is a pretty pedestrian tale.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
12/25/01
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday

Instead of giving you the book, it leaves you with the unfulfilled sense of having leafed through an elegant, studiously captioned photo essay of the same material.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
12/25/01
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's easier to respect than to love a movie almost totally lacking in conventional dramatic conflict, with almost all the characters seeming in dire need of antidepressants.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
12/25/01
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post

The tale of family being rebuilt is sporadically affecting but never cumulatively uplifting because of the episodic nature of the storytelling.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
12/25/01
Duane Dudek
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The nominally emotional moments feel unearned, partially because many of the book's edges and eccentricities have been softened.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
12/25/01
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A meandering, visually lovely film that mostly proves there are some things on the page that cannot work on the screen.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
12/24/01
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

Hallstrom is a master storyteller and, in Proulx's The Shipping News, he has a grand tale to tell.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
12/24/01
Louis B. Hobson
Louis B. Hobson
Jam! Movies

By and large, it's a solid film.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
12/24/01
Eric Harrison
Eric Harrison
Houston Chronicle

Hallstrom has fashioned a disjointed movie full of strong performances and some powerful individual scenes.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
12/24/01
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
 
 
101 - 120 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Shipping News

August 01, 2005: Trailer Bulletin: An Unfinished Life
Finally earning a (limited) release after sitting on a Miramax shelf for about a year is Lasse Hallstrom's "An Unfinished Life," which stars Robert Redford, Morgan... More...

August 20, 2001: 'It's been a curious journey playing a character who just sort of responds,' says two-time Oscar winner Spacey. Opens in new window
More...

March 27, 2001: Before I started writing non-fiction, which I did simply to put meat and potatoes on the table, I was working on my doctorate in history. Opens in new window
More...

March 27, 2001: It's interesting to note that this is another tale of an ordinary man in the midst/crossroads of his life, which seems to be a recurring theme for Spacey. Opens in new window
More...

See All

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