Themes: Starting Over, Haunted By the Past, Redemption
Main Cast: Scott Glenn, Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Pete Postlethwaite
Release Year: 2001
Run Time: 111 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
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, All Movie Guide
Review
Director Lasse Hallström continues to explore eccentric families with this adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by E. Annie Proulx. Unlike Hallström's previous adaptations of The Cider House Rules (1999) and Chocolat (2000), the director this time tackles a dense, emotionally complicated work that translates somewhat haphazardly to the screen. While Kevin Spacey and Judi Dench inhabit their respective roles splendidly, the script by Robert Nelson Jacobs struggles to include all of the source material's meandering plot, leaving some story threads dangling. The fun bits in the novel also work well in the film: these almost all involve the growth of Spacey's character Quoyle into a gifted newspaper reporter and his interactions with the idiosyncratic staff of that publication. The Newfoundland locations are captured gracefully by cinematographer Oliver Stapleton, but the overall effect is one of mild disappointment in comparison to the filmmaker's previously full-bodied, emotionally satisfying cinematic forays. Modern cineastes are accustomed by now to the book being better than the movie, so they won't be surprised to find The Shipping News (2001) visibly pale in comparison to its literary progenitor. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Rhys Ifans - Beaufield Nutbeem; Gordon Pinsent - Billy Pretty; Jason Behr - Dennis Buggit; Larry Pine - Bayonet Melville; Jeanetta Arnette - Silver Melville; Robert Joy - EMS Officer; Alyssa Gainer - Bunny; Kaitlyn Gainer - Bunny; Lauren Gainer - Bunny; John Dunsworth - Guy Quoyle; Will McAllister - Herry Prowse; Marc Lawrence - Cousin Nolan; Nancy Beatty - Mavis Bangs; Scott Glenn - Jack Buggit; Deborah Grover - Edna Buggit; Ken James - Newspaper Boss; Daniel Kash - Detective Danzig; Roman Podhora - Muscular Man; R.D. Reid - Alvin Yark; Katherine Moennig - Grace Moosup; Anthony Cipriano - Young Quoyle (7); Jonathan Creaaser - Paramedic; Terry Daly - Hunky Guy; Luke Fisher - Barfly; Andrew Fowler - Guy Quoyle (15); Kathryn Fraser - Daycare Mom; Gary Levert - Newspaper Employee; John MacEachern - Drunken Guy; Stephen Morgan - Bartender Dave; Kyle Smith - Young Quoyle (12); Emma Taylor-Isherwood - Young Agnis; Nicole Underhay - Betty Buggit; Jon Whalen - Big Guy
Credit
Peter Rogness - Art Director, Karen Schulz-Gropman - Art Director, Mark Laing - Art Director, Stephen P. Dunn - Associate Producer, Steve Switzer - Boom Operator, David Kramer - Casting, Kerry Barden - Casting, Billy Hopkins - Casting, Suzanne Smith - Casting, Mark Bennett - Casting, Robin D. Cook - Casting, Deborah Maxwell Dion - Casting, Sheila Lane - Casting, RDC Casting - Casting, Allan Wilson - Conductor, Diana Pokorny - Co-producer, Renee Ehrlich Kalfus - Costume Designer, Stephen P. Dunn - First Assistant Director, Paul Pope - First Assistant Director, David Footman - First Assistant Director, Lasse Hallström - Director, Andrew Mondshein - Editor, Bob Weinstein - Executive Producer, Harvey Weinstein - Executive Producer, Meryl Poster - Executive Producer, Carol O'Connell - Hair Styles, Emanuel "Manny" Millar - Hair Styles, Edward St. George - Hair Styles, Shaun Clarke - Location Manager, Jennifer Zimmer - Location Manager, Christopher Young - Composer (Music Score), Elaine Offers - Composer (Music Score), Randy Spendlove - Musical Direction/Supervision, Tania McComas - Makeup, Douglas Schwartz - Camera Operator, Nigel Markham - Camera Operator, David Gropman - Production Designer, Oliver Stapleton - Cinematographer, Gordon Miller - Cinematographer, Irwin Winkler - Producer, Linda Goldstein-Knowlton - Producer, Leslie Holleran - Producer, Martin Czembor - Recording, Harry Higgins - Recording, Gretchen Rau - Set Designer, Patricia Larman - Set Designer, Glen Gauthier - Sound/Sound Designer, Michael Kirchberger - Sound/Sound Designer, Fiona Roeske - Stunts, Gilbert Larose, Jr. - Stunts, Blair Christian - Stunts, Derek Covey - Stunts, Marcus Goodick - Stunts, Susan Mcinnes - Stunts, Rea Nolan - Stunts, Steve Staples - Stunts, Jamie Symington - Stunts, Randy Boliver - Stunts Coordinator, John Walsh - Stunts Coordinator, Neil Trifunovich - Special Effects Supervisor, Mari Jo Winkler-Ioffreda - Unit Production Manager, Robert Nelson Jacobs - Screenwriter, Andrew Mondshein - Additional Cinematography, Katherine Little - Production Assistant, Mill Film - Visual Effects Supervisor, Steve Bissinger - Sound Effects Editor, Bob Ottenbrite - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Craig Bankey - Unit Publicist, Jennifer A. Davidoff Cook - Associate Editor, Paul James - First Assistant Camera, Patrick Stepien - First Assistant Camera, Darryl Couch - Grip, Karl Simmons - Key Grip, Thomas S. Drescher - Music Editor, Alicia Sams - Post Production Supervisor, Gina Fowler - Production Coordinator, Lynn Andrews - Production Coordinator, Michelle Corney - Production Coordinator, Jimmy Chow - Properties Master, Susanna David - Script Supervisor, Paul Barry - Second Assistant Director, Charlie Burke - Special Effects Assistant, Perry Hookey - Special Effects Assistant, Tony Hookey - Special Effects Assistant, Barry Spurrell - Special Effects Assistant, Terry White - Special Effects Assistant, Steve Woelfle - Special Effects Assistant, Kyrsten Mate Comoglio - Sound Effects Director, Peter Staubli - Sound Effects Director, Douglas Schwartz - Steadicam Operator, Doane Gregory - Still Photographer, Michael Kirchberger - Supervising Sound Editor, Sharon Lark - Visual Effects Producer, Angie Wills - Visual Effects Producer, Laura Civiello - ADR Editor, Jane McCulley - ADR Editor, Elizabeth Shelton - Assistant Costumer Designer, Norma Richard - Assistant Hair, Christopher Pizzarelli - Assistant Makeup, Colleen Ryan - Assistant Makeup, Robin M. Reelis - Assistant Production Coordinator, Tracey Hatcher - Assistant Production Coordinator, Mick Gormaley - Assistant Sound Editor, Everett Moore - Assistant Sound Editor, Jake Clarke - Best Boy Electric, Sean Doran - Best Boy Grip, Peter DaPrato - Best Boy Grip, Eddy McInnis - Camera Loader, Molly Clayton - Casting Assistant, Art Baxter - Construction Coordinator, David A. Cohen - Dialogue Editor, Scott MacDonald - Dolly Grip, Caro Rothel - First Assistant Accountant, Anne O'Brien - First Assistant Editor, Claus Wehlisch - First Assistant Editor, Margie O'Malley - Foley Artist, Marnie Moore - Foley Artist, George Berndt - Foley Editor, Jeremy Molod - Foley Editor, Vince Ryan - Greensman, Darrell Bailey - Greensman, Myles Bannister - Greensman, Toby O'Dea - Greensman, Lorne Armstrong - Leadman, Cheryl Dookhan - Post Production Accountant, Trevanna Post - Post Production Accountant, Dorothy Precious - Production Accountant, Brenda Coxon - Production Accountant, Michael Beaudin - Second Assistant Accountant, Sandra Galloway - Second Assistant Accountant, Keith Burgess - Second Assistant Camera, Eddy McInnis - Second Assistant Camera, Paul Wagtouicz - Second Assistant Editor, Kelly Stone - Second Unit Assistant Director, Alan Deveau - Set Dresser, Bill Hardwick - Set Dresser, Marianne Scriven - Set Dresser, Sean Emmett - Set Dresser, Elizabeth Goodridge - Set Dresser, Jason Shurko - Set Dresser, Luke Fisher - Set Production Assistant, John MacEachern - Set Production Assistant, E. Annie Proulx - Book Author
The film makes a multitude of changes from the book, notably: Quoyle had two daughters in the novel, but only one in the film; in the film he does not begin working as a reporter until after arriving in Newfoundland; and a number of characters, such as the younger Buggit family, were deleted or merged.
It climaxes with a storm which destroys the Quoyle's ancestral family home and almost drowns the Gammy Bird's editor Jack Buggit, caught in the rope of a lobster pot while fishing. Though thought dead, at Buggit's wake it is found that the man was actually in a state of shock resulting from hypothermia, regaining consciousness in front of a large crowd of mourners, central to the theme of rebirth in the optimistic ending of the story.
Reception
Some critics felt that three significant themes were not fully realised in the movie: Quoyle learning that love could be comfortable rather than painful, Quoyle growing from being a bumbling incompetent to being a competent manager, and his daughter Bunny learning about death (while overcoming her fears and learning to be more secure in the process).
The film drew some criticism within Canada for what some saw as stereotyped portrayals of Newfoundlanders, although a number of themes from the book, such as the allegations of incest reported in the newspaper, were toned down significantly in the screenplay.
Quoyle Point is a fictional point of land on the Newfoundland coast bearing the family name of the protagonist in both the book and the movie. The actual town used for "Killick-Claw" in the movie was New Bonaventure in the Trinity Bight area of Newfoundland. This area is home to approximately 2,000 Newfoundlanders, most of whom are descendants of 18th-century settlers from England's West Country, the Channel Islands and Southeast Ireland.
In the movie, Quoyle Point is a remote, spectacular site with a cove and dramatic cliffs. There is a desolate, weathered green house on the point, the old family home of the Quoyles. At some time in the past, the house had been dragged across the sea-ice from a neighboring island and cabled to the ground at the four corners to protect it from being blown away.
The film crew pre-built the green house on a stage in Halifax, Nova Scotia, disassembled it, transported it via ferry to Newfoundland, and then reassembled it piece-by-piece on 'Quoyle Point,' using snowmobiles so as not to disturb the natural location. All traces of it were removed at the end of filming.
