Best movie of this year hands down!

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The Shipping News (2001): Dir: Lasse Hallstrom / Cast: Kevin Spacey, Judi Dench, Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett, Pete Postlethwaite: Intriguing title symbolizes persistence. After his bar hopping wife is found dead in an auto accident, Kevin Spacey and his daughter go live with an aunt in a house that bares a painful past. Flimsy subplots include incest, murder, false heart attacks, unfaithful spouses, etc. This distracts from core issues and hinder as oppose to develop character. Director Lasse Hallstrom has vision but no payoff. It is below his work in Chocolat but certainly an improvement over the overrated abortion drama The Cider House Rules, which, for some strange reason was given undeserved praise for being a disjointed piece of sh*t. Innovative performance by Spacey who survives the bland subplots by being genuine. Judi Dench plays the aunt who might have been more interesting had she not gotten caught up in useless melodrama regarding the past. She eventually resorts to pouring ashes down a toilet. Julianne Moore plays a withdrawing kindergarten teacher who predictably must get involved with Spacey then open up with a long speech about her past that we've long lost interest in. Cate Blanchett steals scenes as Spacey's sleazy wife. She delivers the most interesting performance in the film. Well made drama featuring a strong theme of healing traumas. Score: 7 ½ / 10

BUT NOT FOREVERHad this movie been released in the last few years, it would have swept the Oscars. Most of us were still reeling from 9/11 when it came out...So many factors make it a hidden gem:Spacey's performance -- Great plot and brilliant script -- The entire cast -- Hauntingly beautiful soundtrack -- Breathtaking scenery and cinematography.Watched it for the first time the other day, and gave it 9 out of 10. It has transfixed me so much that I must now give it a 10.Thank goodness I found it on Netflix. Still spellbound.

This is probably not a film that would appeal in the current climate of films but wouldn't it be fantastic if they filmed this movie again. A few years from now. There is nothing wrong with this film unless you've read the book. I was very disappointed in the casting of Kevin Spacey. He is a wonderful actor but just went overboard with the acting. I had Tim Robbins in mind but all of the current actors are too old including Tim Robbins. Spacey acted like he was retarded. I didn't get that feel for the character in the book. I am currently watching it for the 3rd or 4th time. It gets easier to watch. The first time was torture. Probably not one of Mr. Spacey's favorite films. My opinion.

The Shipping News is a drama based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by E. Annie Proulx.It stars Kevin Spacey as the protagonist Quoyle, Judi Dench as Agnis Hamm and Julianne Moore as Wavey Prowse. Pete Postlethwaite,Scott Glenn,Rhys Ifans,Cate Blanchett,Jason Behr and Gordon Pinsent co-star to play key supporting roles.It is directed by Lasse Hallström.Quoyle is a struggling, emotionally drained newspaper reporter suffering through a wretched marriage with the abusive Petal, 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. 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. Quoyle's work soon finds an appreciative audience and he begins to rebuild his life, dating local single mother Wavey, 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.Though solidly made and acted,the movie is rather heavy-handed and dull, especially given the nature of its protagonist brilliantly shows Quoyle's transformation from a passive clod to a curious journalist.Kevin Spacey and Julianne Moore astound in touching, well- told tale of rebirth and redemption.On the other hand,it maybe considered modest but true feeling for the ways in which people are formed by the ravages of their natural surroundings can definitely touch the viewer and should be considered an excellent film despite its obvious flaw of awkwardness.