The Shipping News **** (2001, Kevin Spacey, Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Julianne Moore) – Classic Movie Review 1291

All aboard director Lasse Hallström‘s 2001 The Shipping News, a first-class trip to the spectacular, chilly landscapes of Newfoundland, the setting for the plushest acting performances you will see in a long while.

Kevin Spacey stars as New York inksetter Quoyle, who plunges into the depths of despair when his abusive, estranged wife Petal (Cate Blanchett) dies and he finds himself struggling to rebuild his life. But the tide of his fortunes changes after his long-lost aunt Agnis Hamm (Judi Dench) turns up, he lands a job as a maritime reporter for the local newspaper and falls in love with a single mother, Wavey Prowse (Julianne Moore), who is swept by emotional waves of her own.

This stirring, atmospheric movie is based on E. Annie Proulx’s 1993 Pulitzer-prize-winning novel (her second book), and translates into a heart-rending screen experience.

Jason Behr: His role as Dennis Buggit earned him a Movieline Award for Standout performance.

Pete Postlethwaite, Scott Glenn, Rhys Ifans, Gordon Pinsent and Larry Pine also star. Jason Behr’s role as Dennis Buggit earned him a Movieline Award for Standout performance.

Proulx (born August 22 1935) is also the author of the 1997 short story of Brokeback Mountain. She won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for her first novel, Postcards, as well as the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction for The Shipping News.

In September 2018, Dame Judi Dench said Kevin Spacey was ‘an inestimable comfort’ when they worked together on The Shipping News shortly after her husband’s death. ‘I think he is, and was, a most wonderful actor… and a good friend.’

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1291

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