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:

Dive Beneath The Surface

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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:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 January 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Atando cabos

Filming Locations:

Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, 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

Jason Behr put on fifteen pounds for his role as Dennis Buggit.

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Goofs

When Quoyle and Wavey are flying the kites, the wind is blowing the wrong way for the kites to actually be aloft.

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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

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: The Shipping News (2002)

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Soundtracks

What's Your Name
Written by Gary Rossington & Ronnie Van Zant
Performed by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Courtesy of MCA Records
Under License from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Actually a pretty good movie

I had seen the good rating of Shipping News before I watched it, and I would like to give it a shot.

Lasse Hallström did a good job when he directed The Cider House Rules, and Kevin Spacey is of course a good actor with movies like The Usual Suspects, LA Confidential and K-Pax. Furthermore we got supporting actresses such as the lovely Julianne Moore and talented Cate Blanchett, it was promising.

The movie is mostly a drama, but it succeeds in giving the audience some laughs when needed, which is important to me. Dramas can be too depressing sometimes, but it is of course sometimes needed to make a statement. Anyway, it is not needed in Shipping News and Lasse Hallström understands this very well.

The acting is great, the stars I mentioned earlier deliver good performances, but we also get the pleasure to watch other good actors too, so the cast really gives us a good movie.

Actually there are mainly positive things to say about this movie, the picture quality was good and the environment at Newfoundland created a good atmosphere. The only thing I would critisise is that the movie maybe could have been a bit longer, there were a few issues that I would like to have seen sorted out.

I have rated this movie 7/10, but it maybe deserved a little more. It is definitely worth watching.