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The Shipping News

The movie The Shipping News was based on the book The Shipping News.

Which one did you like better, the movie or the book?  There are 6 votes for the book, and 8 votes for the movie.

Movie details for The Shipping News

The movie was released in 2001 and directed by Lasse Hallström, who also directed What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), The Cider House Rules (1999) and An Unfinished Life (2005). The Shipping News was produced by Miramax. More information on the movie is available on Amazon.com and also IMDb.

Actors on this movie include Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Pete Postlethwaite, Scott Glenn, Rhys Ifans, Gordon Pinsent, Jason Behr, Larry Pine, Jeanetta Arnette, Robert Joy, Alyssa Gainer, Kaitlyn Gainer, Lauren Gainer, John Dunsworth, Anthony Cipriano (II), Kyle Timothy Smith, Ken James (II) and Roman Podhora.

 

Read More About This Movie

Fans of Lasse Hallström's truffle, Chocolat, may enjoy the director's subsequent novel adaptation, the emotionally charged Shipping News. The opening sequence introduces us to the bumbling Quoyle (Kevin Spacey), an ink setter at the Poughkeepsie News; his... Read More
Fans of Lasse Hallström's truffle, Chocolat, may enjoy the director's subsequent novel adaptation, the emotionally charged Shipping News. The opening sequence introduces us to the bumbling Quoyle (Kevin Spacey), an ink setter at the Poughkeepsie News; his hedonistic wife Petal Bear (Cate Blanchett); and their daughter Bunny. But we hardly get to meet the characters, much less connect with them, in the fewer than eight minutes allotted for the scene. Before you know it, Petal is dead in a car wreck, Quoyle's parents have committed suicide, and Quoyle and Bunny are headed off with Quoyle's aunt Agnis (Judi Dench) to start over in a small Newfoundland port town. As the main story ensues--Quoyle's transformation from passive victim to sensitive lover and eloquent columnist--the subplot of his sordid family history and his aunt's search for healing seems contrived and lifeless. While Julianne Moore, as the widow Wavey, gives a solid performance as Quoyle's love interest, Spacey's performance is uneven, never convincingly at sea enough to reward Quoyle's ultimate self-discovery. As with so many films adapted from novels, The Shipping News fails to embark confidently enough upon its own course to keep off the rocks. --Fionn Meade

Book details for The Shipping News

The Shipping News was written by Annie Proulx. The book was published in 1993 by Scribner. More information on the book is available on Amazon.com.

Annie Proulx also wrote Brokeback Mountain (1998).

 

Read More About This Book

In this touching and atmospheric novel set among the fishermen of Newfoundland, Proulx tells the story of Quoyle. From all outward appearances, Quoyle has gone through his first 36 years on earth as a big schlump of a loser. He's not attractive, he's not ... Read More
In this touching and atmospheric novel set among the fishermen of Newfoundland, Proulx tells the story of Quoyle. From all outward appearances, Quoyle has gone through his first 36 years on earth as a big schlump of a loser. He's not attractive, he's not brilliant or witty or talented, and he's not the kind of person who typically assumes the central position in a novel. But Proulx creates a simple and compelling tale of Quoyle's psychological and spiritual growth. Along the way, we get to look in on the maritime beauty of what is probably a disappearing way of life.