The Shipping News (2001)

Director:

Lasse Hallström

Writers (WGA):

Annie Proulx (novel)
Robert Nelson Jacobs (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 January 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Dive Beneath The Surface

Plot:

An emotionally-beaten man with his young daughter moves to his ancestral home in Newfoundland to reclaim his life.

Plot Keywords:

Newfoundland | Newspaper | Car Crash | Outsider | Capsize

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Kevin Spacey	...	Quoyle
Julianne Moore	...	Wavey Prowse
Judi Dench	...	Agnis Hamm
Cate Blanchett	...	Petal
Pete Postlethwaite	...	Tert Card
Scott Glenn	...	Jack Buggit
Rhys Ifans	...	Beaufield Nutbeem
Gordon Pinsent	...	Billy Pretty
Jason Behr	...	Dennis Buggit
Larry Pine	...	Bayonet Melville
Jeannetta Arnette	...	Silver Melville
Robert Joy	...	EMS Officer
Alyssa Gainer	...	Bunny Quoyle
Kaitlyn Gainer	...	Bunny Quoyle
Lauren Gainer	...	Bunny Quoyle

MPAA:

Rated R for some language, sexuality and disturbing images.

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Canada:18A (British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Iceland:12 | South Korea:18 | Germany:12 (f) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Netherlands:12 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

When Billy Bob Thornton was set to direct, he wanted Laura Dern to play Wavey.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene when Quoyle orders the same squid burger that Nutbeem has there is a shot of the two with a waitress in blue crossing the shot from right to left. The next shot is of Quoyle with the waitress behind him serving coffee. The next shot shows Quoyle and Nutbeem and the waitress crosses the shot from left to right. The next shot is of Quoyle once again, but the waitress is still behind him serving coffee.

Quotes:

Jack Buggit: . . I need a reporter. And you'll do local car wrecks. Take the picture, write the story. We run a front-page photo of a car wreck every week whether or not we actually hav a a car wreck. Now, there's a knack for taking photos that make you feel something. If there's a dark patch on the ground it reads blood whether it's motor oil or Diet Coke.

Movie Connections:

References The Shining (1980)

Soundtrack:

Bad As I Am

Another moving display of human sentiments from Hallström.

Lasse Hallström had created a number of great films that deliver serious introspective messages of human emotions, with masterful uses of filming locations and scenery to create the various moods of his films which is often pensive or thought-provoking. We have seen them in "Chocolat", "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" and in "The Cider House Rules". His selection of novels he makes films based on is also brilliant. Here, "The Shipping News" is another master stroke from him which leaves the viewer quite in awe to the film's sentiments and atmosphere.

I haven't read the novel. And it's quite unlikely I'll find it in my local bookstores and I hate e-books. So I can never judge the film's quality of adaptation. All I can say is that the film offers us a wonderful story of a rather ordinary man named Quoyal who's brilliantly portrayed by Kevin Spacey. The character of Quoyal is still fascinating, extra-ordinarily ordinary. The best chemistry of Quoyal is not with his later love-interest Wavey, but with his aunt Agnis. This is a major touch of brilliance in the story. The story also tells us about Newfoundland and its people... and leaves us indeed fascinated by those facts. But in the end, emotions are same everywhere, be it Newfoundland or Indonesia, so the story is ultimately of grief, sense of loss, rediscovering one's self and love.

Julianne Moore is rather stiff in this film. I don't know whether it's for her role or she acted badly. Judi Dench is a pleasure to watch again. Cate Blanchett's extended cameo is awesome too. But actors don't carry the film. The major credit for the film goes to the director. There's a major flaw (perhaps) in the story in the end concerning the character Jack but Hallstrom pulls it off nicely so that the audience cannot react to it and accepts it temporarily. Hats off to you, Mr Hallström.