The Shipping News

Name: The Shipping News
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: December 25, 2001
Duration: 111 min
Rating: 47
Cast: Judi Dench, Julianne Moore, Kevin Spacey

2001

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Mixed or average reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Ratings

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7.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Miramax Films | Release Date: December 25, 2001 | R

Starring: Judi Dench, Julianne Moore, Kevin Spacey

Summary: Based 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)

Director: Lasse Hallstrom

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Rating: R

Runtime: 111 min

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Critic Reviews

William Arnold

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. Read full review

Michael Wilmington

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? Read full review

Rita Kempley

It's worth seeing at the very least because it is so different from standard Hollywood fare. Read full review

Claudia Puig

Watching the Pulitzer-prize winning novel by E. Annie Proulx on the big screen is like being on an ocean liner stuck on a glacier.

Michael Sragow

Hasn't got quite the right sound as it did in Annie Proulx's novel.

Lisa Alspector

This atmosphere-heavy drama, with its comfortably quirky characters, elegant performances, and ever shifting tone, is so innocuous it's not worth panning. Read full review

Peter Travers

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. Read full review

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Spangle

May 10, 2016

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 andThe 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.… Expand

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