The Shipping News Review

by David N. Butterworth (dnb AT dca DOT net)
January 15th, 2002
THE SHIPPING NEWS
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2002 David N. Butterworth

**1/2 (out of ****)

In December of 1999, Miramax films snuck "The Cider House Rules" into theaters just in time for Oscar® consideration. The film, a literary adaptation directed by Lasse Hallström, was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won just two. In December of 2000, Miramax once again released an Oscar hopeful shortly before the nominations were due ("Chocolat," another literary treatment directed by Hallström, was nominated for five Academy Awards and wound up with nothing to show for it all). And now Miramax are at it again with "The Shipping News," a character-driven drama based on E. Annie Proulx's novel with Hallström yet again at the helm. Even with an Oscar-possible cast of Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, and Judi Dench (no, I didn't include "Notting Hill"'s Rhys Ifans!) it appears that audience's (and critics') waning love affair with Hallström-directed Miramax productions based on books is finally on the rocks. Spacey might get the nod--he's the only individual linked to the film with a Golden Globe nomination to his credit--but I'm not sure he deserves it. The role, as a broken mess of a man who attempts to forge a new life for himself and his young daughter in the frigid, isolated landscapes of Newfoundland, is emotionally distant. Spacey's Quoyle mumbles his way through life, quickly finding an unlikely job as a newspaper reporter and, just as quickly, hooking up with Moore's Wavey Prowse, the director of the local daycare. There are few surprises in the film: it's well acted (Cate Blanchett, Pete Postlethwaite, and Scott Glenn are also in it), solidly directed, and nicely filmed, but it's all rather morose and pedestrian and doesn't grab you emotionally as it should (my guess is the book--which I haven't read--involves you more). But to be fair to Hallström, Miramax, et al, I would suspect their film to be intimately more palatable than a slice of seal flipper pie.

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David N. Butterworth
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