SummaryBased on E. Annie Proulx's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, the story traces one man's extraordinary journey to self-discovery when he returns to his ancestral home on the coast of Newfoundland. (Miramax Films)
Directed By:Lasse Hallström
Written By:Annie Proulx, Robert Nelson Jacobs
The Shipping News
Metascore
Mixed or Average
47
User score
Generally Favorable
7.3
My Score
Drag or tap to give a rating
Hover and click to give a rating
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
47
32% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
58% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
10% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
91
In a time when even the best of big Hollywood movies all seem to be mired in a certain nagging, unimaginative visual sameness, this one dares to take us to a place we haven't been before.
75
Beside its major virtues, it contains a vice: that one flat lead performance. Who would have thought Kevin Spacey would ever go dull on us?
60
Has a quiet sense of community, a wry, unsentimental sweetness, that grows on you. It's a patient movie for impatient times.
50
Spacey is endearing, bringing his shy character to life despite glaring psychological gaps in the screenplay.
50
This morbid and self-consciously literary adaptation of E. Annie Proulx's Pulitzer-winning novel is no crowd pleaser.
40
In the movie's best moments, the misery has a comic lilt to it. [28 Jan 2002, p. 90]
10
The language is leaden, the pace glacial and the characters indecipherable. It's easier to read the actors -- they all seem eager to win an Oscar. Fat chance.
User score
Generally Favorable
7.3
61% Positive
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
39% Mixed
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
May 10, 2016
6
The Shipping News is a decent film with good turns from Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, and especially Cate Blanchett (in an against type role, I might add) that is simply too pleasant to have any lasting impact. The film, when it focuses on the human element, can be incredibly touching and romantic. Throughout, the characters are well-developed and the result is a cast of people who you really identify with and feel for. However, the film takes some odd turns, namely when it comes to death and the supernatural. These feel wholly diverting and distract from the overall purpose of the film with the weight some minor characters' death is given. Additionally, disturbing scenes and elements further confuse the plot and distract from the main purpose of the film: a man taking control of his life and becoming truly happy and fulfilled. These diversions are more distractions and feel more like filler than any character defining kind of stuff. That said, there is more bad than good in The Shipping News and though it can be kind of slow at times, it is never boring and is truly satisfying on the whole.
Production Company:
- Miramax
Release Date:Dec 25, 2001
Duration:1 h 51 m
Rating:R
Tagline:Dive Beneath The Surface
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 2 Nominations
Critics Choice Awards
• 2 Nominations
BAFTA Awards
• 2 Nominations
