Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
An emotionally-beaten man with his young daughter moves to his ancestral home in Newfoundland to reclaim his life.
The Shipping News benefits enormously from its bleak, atmospheric Newfoundland cinematography, which captures the isolation and harsh beauty of the landscape with real distinction. The ensemble cast — Spacey, Blanchett, Dench, Moore — is accomplished but the material keeps them at arm's length from genuine emotional depth. The plot, adapted from Annie Proulx's Pulitzer-winning novel, is episodic and meandering on screen, losing much of the novel's eccentric texture. The ending feels abrupt and unearned, resolving emotional wounds too neatly after the film has spent most of its runtime wallowing in quiet despair. Novelty is moderate — it's an unusual setting with an unusual tone, but director Hallström's measured approach flattens the source material's idiosyncratic voice.