The Shipping News (2001)
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55% of critics liked it
(130 reviews) -
60% of users liked it
(20,228 ratings)
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by E. Annie Proulx becomes this drama from director Lasse Hallström. Kevin Spacey stars as Quoyle, a struggling, emotionally drained newspaper reporter suffering through a wretched marriage with the abusive Petal (Cate Blanchett), a promiscuous wild woman who tries… More The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by E. Annie Proulx becomes this drama from director Lasse Hallström. Kevin Spacey stars as Quoyle, a struggling, emotionally drained newspaper reporter suffering through a wretched marriage with the abusive Petal (Cate Blanchett), a promiscuous wild woman who tries to sell their daughter, Bunny, into adoption before she's killed in a car wreck. Retrieving his daughter, Quoyle sets out for Newfoundland, his ancestral home, with his long-lost Aunt Agnis (Judi Dench). Although he initially finds life on the island to be as forbidding and severe as Agnis herself, Quoyle gets work as a shipping columnist for the local newspaper "The Gammy Bird," owned by eccentric fisherman Jack Buggit (Scott Glenn). Quoyle's work soon finds an appreciative audience and he begins to rebuild his life, dating local single mother Wavey (Julianne Moore), learning some sea craft, discovering his family's dark history, and finally earning some self-respect. Agnis, in the meantime, starts her own successful business and faces a traumatic incident from her childhood involving Quoyle's late father. The Shipping News (2001) co-stars Rhys Ifans and Pete Postlethwaite. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Directed By
- Lasse Hallström
- Written By
- Robert Nelson Jacobs
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- In Theaters
- Dec 25, 2001 Wide
- On DVD
- Jun 18, 2002
- Studio
- Miramax Films
Critic Reviews
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Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
I am baffled by all the negativity surrounding it, and I am prepared to designate it as the most underrated film of 2001.
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Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
The movie has a modest but true feeling for the ways in which people are formed by the ravages of their natural surroundings.
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Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Spacey brilliantly shows Quoyle's transformation from a passive clod to a curious journalist.
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Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
I like good newspaper movies. Most of them get it completely wrong. In this case, it's exactly right.
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Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Some novels need to be left alone. Hear that, Hollywood?
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Kevin Spacey
as Quoyle
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Julianne Moore
as Wavey
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Cate Blanchett
as Petal Bear
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Judi Dench
as Agnis Hamm
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Pete Postlethwaite
as Tert Card
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Rhys Ifans
as Beaufield Nutbeem
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Gordon Pinsent
as Billy Pretty
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Jason Behr
as Dennis Buggit
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Larry Pine
as Bayonet Melville
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Jeanetta Arnette
as Silver Melville
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Robert Joy
as EMS Officer
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Alyssa Gainer
as Bunny
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Kaitlyn Gainer
as Bunny
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Lauren Gainer
as Bunny
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John Dunsworth
as Guy Quoyle
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Will MCallister
as Herry Prowse
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Marc Lawrence I
as Cousin Nolan
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Nancy Beatty
as Mavis Bangs
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Scott Glenn
as Jack Buggit
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Deborah Grover
as Edna Buggit
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Ken James
as Newspaper Boss
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Daniel Kash
as Detective Danzig
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Roman Podhora
as Muscular Man
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R.D. Reid
as Alvin Yark
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Katherine Moennig
as Grace Moosup
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Anthony Cipriano
as Young Quoyle (7)
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Jonathan Creaaser
as Paramedic
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Terry Daly
as Hunky Guy
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Luke Fisher
as Barfly
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Andrew Fowler
as Guy Quoyle (15)
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Kathryn Fraser
as Daycare Mom
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Gary Levert
as Newspaper Employee
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John MacEachern
as Drunken Guy
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Stephen Morgan
as Bartender Dave
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Kyle Smith
as Young Quoyle (12)
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Emma Taylor-Isherwood
as Young Agnis
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Nicole Underhay
as Betty Buggit
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Jon Whalen
as Big Guy