The Shipping News (DVD)

Quoyle is one of those people that just melt into the background; no-one notices he's there until they have no choice. Craving love, he seeks it with the first woman that comes his way - hedonistic Petal, who has no feelings for anyone but herself. When she leaves him, selling their daughter, Bunny, to an illegal adoption organisation, he is devastated. Fortunately, Bunny is returned to him, but Petal dies in a car accident. Then Quoyle's aunt Agnis comes into his life and persuades him to leave his job as a type-setter and move to their ancestral home in Newfoundland. There, Quoyle finds a job as a journalist and even meets a woman, Wavy, with a similar background. Is ...  Read the complete review

The Shipping News boasts a famous cast including Kevin Spacey, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett and Julianne Moore. With a cast list like that, I expected this to be a really good drama that I could sink my teeth into and thoroughly enjoy. The retail price is £15.99 but Amazon have been selling it for only £2.96, so at that price I thought I was getting a real bargain. The Shipping news is a dark family orientated drama first and foremost. Kevin Spacey plays a character called Quoyle who's a bit of a loser. The not-terribly-bright simple guy Quoyle hooks up with the first woman to show an interested in him, good time girl Petal (played by Cate Blanchett). ...  Read the complete review

'The Shipping News' is about Quoyle (Kevin Spacey), an uncommunicative man trapped in a loveless marriage to the loathsome Petal (Cate Blanchett), who doesn't even have the good manners to sleep with her boyfriends outside the family home. When Petal is killed, Quoyle returns with his Aunt (Judi Dench) and his strange daughter Bunny (played by triplets, fact fans!) to the remote Newfoundland coast where his family originated. Falling into a job at The Gammy Bird (the local paper), Quolye starts to rebuild himself through writing, friends, and a tentative romance with local widow Wavey (Julianne Moore). I haven't read the book by E. Annie Proulx, ...  Read the complete review

Director Lasse Hallstrom seems to be specialising in making films based on popular novels. After his successes with Cider House Rules and Chocolat, this latest film of his is based on the book of the same name by E. Annie Proulx, and features an impressive cast. The central character, known only by his surname Quoyle (Kevin Spacey) is a quiet man who never manages to quite fit in. After growing up with no friends, and constantly disappointing his father, he finally settles into an undemanding life as an ink setter at a local paper. His life suddenly becomes exciting when he meets beautiful and impulsive Petal (Cate Blanchett). His relationship with her ...  Read the complete review

Newfoundland. Houses lashed to the side of cliffs. Impassable roads for 3 months of the year. Die young either at sea or by crashing into a mousse. Squid burgers for lunch. 'Holiday' have as far as I know, not yet dragged their cameras to this corner of the world and are unlikely to! Newfoundland - a very cold bit of Canada, is the setting for the main 'action' of the Shipping News. Adapted from a novel by E. Annie Proulx it is directed by Lasse Halstrom (Cider House Rules, Chocolat, My life as a dog) who does a good but not great job. Kevin Spacey, one of my favourite actors plays Quoyle, a loser who we see going from one low point to ...  Read the complete review