The Shipping News (2001)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Robert Nelson Jacobs, based on the novel by E. Annie Proulx
Directed by Lasse Hallström

Starring Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Scott Glenn, Rhys Ifans and Pete Postlethwaite

Features:

• Dive Beneath The Surface of The Shipping News
  
• Feature Commentary with Director Hallström, Screenwriter Jacobs and Producers Linda Goldstein Knowlton and Leslie Holleran
  
• Photo Archive
  

R.G. Quoyle (Spacey) is a man who has no direction. He has never had a very strong family life, but he finds himself in love with a flighty whore of a woman named Petal (Blanchett). She gets pregnant and they get married, but she is never home and quite obviously doesn't care a whit about Quoyle. She steals their daughter and tries to sell her for drug money, but winds up in a fatal car accident. Quoyle meets his long lost Aunt Agnis Hamm (Dench) who is on her way back to Newfoundland to take up residence in the old home place. Without any thought, Quoyle and his daughter wind up moving with her to start their life anew.

Spacey, Dench, Blanchett, Moore and company are outstanding. Blanchett has very little screen time, but her character is so well developed she leaves a lasting impression on you throughout the film. Spacey is downright magnificent. Granted, he is doing what he does best: playing the downtrodden, spineless wimp who grows into a man through the story. Dench never misses a beat in her performance as the crotchety old Aunt Agnis. The only word I can think of to describe her performance is "human". Last, but definitely not least, Moore is sublime as Quoyle's new love interest. Their accents are all impeccable. Rounding out the supporting cast are Scott Glenn, Pete Postlethwaite and Rhys Ifans, each of whom add depth and humanity to this small Newfoundland fishing village. With scenery this beautiful and a cast this strong, it is almost impossible to screw up the cinematography.

If there is a weakness to the film it would be the script. Don't get me wrong, the story is sound and true, but the dialogue feels a little stiff, even out of the mouth of Dame Judi Dench, who can take almost any script and make it sound like music.

The DVD is simple yet elegant. The behind the scenes documentary is really nicely done and you don't get the feeling they just threw it together as something to put on the DVD. There are interviews with all the cast members, the director and producers, and they go into detail about some of the stuff that usually gets glossed over and forgotten, like scouting for locations. The Photo Archive is a little difficult to navigate. Each page of the archive only allows you to choose one of four pictures and you have to return to the main screen and choose the next page to continue. After you have viewed all four of these, then you can go to another page of four. It just gets a little tedious after the third page of four. It would have been easier just to use the forward button on the DVD remote to progress through them.

The commentary track starts out really nicely, but falters. All of the folks involved have a nice conversational tone, but as we get into the movie, they drift slowly into narrating the movie for you. They still throw in little bits of trivia about the film, but for the most part, it's narration. Kind of disappointing, but still worth watching...once.

The film is worth seeing for the outstanding performances, so rent the thing--but the DVD itself is just not worth keeping on the shelf.