The Shipping News (2001)
Grade: C-
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Dame Judi Dench, Julianne Moore, Rhys Ifans, Jason Behr, and Cate Blanchett
Director: Lasse Hallstrom
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and language


"The Shipping News" is a film of great import. A film with life messages and words to live by. The passionate and intriguing tale of a man searching for his past. A sure-fire Oscar contender. Or so Mirimax would have liked to think. The film is a little too precious and dull for it's own good. It's convoluted and pointless. To the point, it's a bad film.

The film tells of Quoyle (Kevin Spacey). He is a loser, and was pegged so by his father so many years ago when he was not capable of swimming. From that point on, he worked menial jobs and was unlucky in love. Until Petal (Cate Blanchett) came along. A breath of fresh air and a nice change from the boring norm, the two get married after a one night stand and have a daughter named Bunny.

But it's obvious that Petal doesn't love, or even like, Quoyle. She was just a homeless girl who needed a place to stay. So, she cheats on him. Not behind his back, like you might think, but she brings the lovers into their home while he is trying to take care of their child. And then one night Petal decides she's done with him. She takes Bunny and her lover and they set out to begin a new life. But, that's not before Petal sells Bunny on the black market. Petal then goes over the side of a bridge in her car. And then Quoyle's parents die.

And just when it seems that nothing else could go wrong, his aunt comes to get her brother's ashes and take them back to Newfoundland. Well, ole Quoyle decides to go with, and it's there that he meets Wavey (Julianne Moore), the emotional malcontent from a troubled relationship that culminated in the birth of her physically retarded son.

Doesn't this all just sound like so much fun? After about 30-minutes, I was ready for this film to be over. The beginning moved along well enough, but then it got to the actual story and I was not impressed. The pacing of the film was probably it's biggest problem. Lasse Hallstrom (the great director of "The Cider House Rules") gives the film too much room to breath, and yet somehow, it still ends up feeling stuffy.

You can almost tell that this film is based on a novel. The character names (which I'm sure have some sort of metaphorical significance, but the film is so poorly translated to the screen that I'm not sure exactly what it is) are just about as literary as you can get, and the characters don't bode well on the screen. Some characters just work (like Jack and Karen from "Out of Sight"), but these people are too uptight, and then there's the added fact that it seems like we're just supposed to believe the things they say and do, even though it feels like there is a lot missing. Their actions make no sense (especially those of our protagonist).

Thematically, the film could have been ripe. Instead, our story is overtaken by striking-yet-convoluted and unnecessary back story, and incomprehensible (at times) imagery. And basically it's just unbelieveable. What did Quoyle hope to gain by going to Newfoundland? He's a loser no matter what. The character is very reminiscent of Spacey's own Lester Burnham (from "American Beauty"). As soon as Lester began to take control of his own life instead of living someone else he became happier and more successful. The same goes for Quoyle, but the character arc doesn't work well in this setting and with this circumstances.

But what were his motivations in the first place? He wanted to learn more about his family, but why would that have made him a better man? He didn't like his family in the first place. His attempts to rationalize the abuse doled out to him in his childhood are iffy at best. The script never really explains to us what exactly he wanted to know, or what exactly the point of the film is.

Likewise, the acting is iffy at best. Kevin Spacey seemed to be on auto-pilot, which is a rarity for this actor. Quoyle's transformation from loser to successful, great guy is totally unbelieveable. Of course the script is at fault, but Spacey's stale portrayal doesn't really help either. Dame Judi Dench is good, but her part is too minor to make an impression. Julianne Moore emotes nicely, but her character isn't as well-rounded as her performance. Cate Blanchett is great as Petal, the wild and rambunctious man-izer who uses what she has to in order to get what she wants.

Lasse Hallstrom and company may have been trying to get themselves some awards, but thankfully, they didn't. "The Shipping News" is boring, has no climax, and is just as numb as that beautiful, snowy scenery would certainly make you.


-Brian Jones, July 2002