The Shipping News (2001)

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

Director:

Lasse Hallström

Writers:

Annie Proulx (based on the novel by) (as E. Annie Proulx), Robert Nelson Jacobs (screenplay)

Stars:

Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

An inksetter in New York, Quoyle returns to his family's longtime home, a small fishing town in Newfoundland, with his young daughter, after a traumatizing experience with her mother, Petal, who sold her to an illegal adoption agency. Though Quoyle has had little success thus far in life, his shipping news column in the newspaper "The Gammy Bird" finds an audience, and his experiences in the town change his life. Then he meets the widow Wavey...

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Plot Keywords:

newspaper | ship | wake | husband wife relationship | canada | 

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Taglines:

You'll never guess what you'll find inside...

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some language, sexuality and disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax Films cast, music, trailer [United States] NZZ Online - Neue Zürcher Zeitung (German)

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 January 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Atando cabos

Filming Locations:

Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$318,502, 23 December 2001, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$11,434,216

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$13,256,225

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The author of the novel, E. Annie Proulx, would only grant the film rights to the book upon the condition that it be filmed on-location in Newfoundland.

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Goofs

When Jack Buggit first asks Quoyle aboard his boat, he's gutting fish. He throws the first fish in the tub of water, and it splashes on Quoyle. When he throws the second fish in the tub, it lands on several other fish (already in the tub).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Quoyle: [father teaching him literally to sink or swim]
[voice-over]
Quoyle: I used to imagine that I'd been given to the wrong family at birth, and that somewhere in the world my real people longed for me. From where my father stood, my failure to dog-paddle was only the first of many failures. Failure to speak clearly, failure to sit up straight, failure to make friends every time we moved to another dreary upstate town. In me, my father recognized a failed life. His own.

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Connections

Referenced in Die schlechtesten Filme aller Zeiten: Blacula (2014)

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Soundtracks

The Jolly Butcher
Traditional
Arranged by Sean McCann, Alan Doyle, Bob Hallett (as Robert Hallett) & Darrell Power
Performed by Great Big Sea
Courtesy of Warner Music Canada

User Reviews

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.