The Shipping News Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)January 3rd, 2002
THE SHIPPING NEWS (2001) / ***
Directed by Lasse Hallström. Screenplay by Robert Nelson Jacobs, based on the novel by E Annie Proulx. Starring Kevin Spacey, Judi Dench, Julianne Moore. Running time: 125 minutes. Rated AA by the MFCB. Reviewed on January 2nd, 2002.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: Sadsack Quoyle (Spacey) is an inksetter in Poughkeepsie until his life is torn apart by tragedy. After meeting his Aunt Agnis (Dench) for the first time, Quoyle decides to accompany her to their ancestral home in outport Newfoundland, with his six year-old daughter Bunny (triplets Alyssa, Kaitlyn and Lauren Gainer) in tow. There, Quoyle finds employment writing the shipping news column for the local newspaper, "The Gammey Bird" -- despite his utter lack of experience -- which leads him to uncover dark secrets about his family's past.
Review: "The Shipping News" is the first major motion picture to be filmed primarily on location in Newfoundland in more than sixty years, and if there's one thing Hallström does right, it's to take full advantage of the rugged, protean, beautiful landscape of the island. It's the perfect backdrop for a story which is stark and difficult, and yet has a powerful heart. Some will find the movie's episodic nature and particularly its tepid conclusion -- wrapping up the storylines more metaphorically than literally -- uninvolving. But "The Shipping News" is a tale of subtle strength, embodied by Spacey's performance as Quoyle, making a memorable protagonist out of a passive and sometimes pathetic figure. Dench is excellent as Agnis, whose gruff exterior belies inner complexity; it's Dench, too, who best adopts the elusive Newfoundland accent. Noteworthy as well are the actors who play Quoyle's delightfully eccentric coworkers at "The Gammey Bird": Pete Postlethwaite, Rhys Ifans, and local legend Gordon Pinsent. It is their contribution which helps to lift "The Shipping News" out of the quagmire of darkness in which it would have otherwise wallowed hopelessly. It is unfortunate, though, that more prominent characters -- particularly Moore's Wavey -- come across as rather less fully realised. Special praise goes to Christopher Young's haunting score.
Copyright © 2002 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
Archived at The Popcorn Gallery,
http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html
| Shannon Patrick Sullivan | [email protected] | +---------------------------------+---------------------------------+ / Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) go.to/drwho-history \ \__ We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars __/
More on 'The Shipping News'...
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
