The Shipping News

by Peggy Sugarman

Genre: Drama
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Judith Dench, Julianne Moore
Run time: 111 Minutes

This film is based on the book by Annie Proulx, a winner of the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It is a honey of a book chock full of eccentric characters.

Kevin Spacey plays the lead character, Quoyle, a dull-witted, hapless failure of a man who becomes mesmerized by a beautiful but abusive woman with voracious sexual appetites. He immediately falls in love with her, gets married and assumes the role of the wounded husband of an uncontrollable, unfeeling and blatantly unfaithful wife. They end up with a daughter, for whom he is the primary caretaker. Both father and daughter watch as Petal breezes in and out of their lives, laying waste to any illusion of happiness with her constant criticism and neglect. In a matter of cosmic retribution, Petal ends up dead in a car accident, leaving father and daughter to cope with their loss. While you might wonder how they could possibly miss such turmoil, Kevin Spacey’s immense talent allows you to speculate about and possibly relate to a very human condition: We don’t always love people who are good for us. It doesn’t take long for the film to provide an explanation for Quoyle’s passive acceptance of Petal’s abuse. He was abused and derided by his own father.

In comes the Aunt, played by the incomparable Judy Dench, who is hiding losses of her own, and who talks him into going to their ancestral homeland, Newfoundland. They find the dilapidated and empty Quoyle home still standing, tethered to the ground to guard against the heavy coastal winds and storms. A stalwart sort, she says, “It can be fixed.”

Quoyle lands a job at the local paper, The Gammy Bird, as a reporter despite his lack of experience. His job is to report the ships that move in and out of their harbor. His self-doubts almost overwhelm him until he begins to find his voice through the written word, and eventually begins to stand up for his beliefs.

Julianne Moore enters the picture as Wavey, the local day care provider, who has a young son with Down Syndrome. Wavey’s devotion to her son is touching, and we watch as Quoyle’s daughter befriends him with the uncomplicated acceptance of children. A love affair between Quoyle and Wavey is slow and halting. Both are dealing with deep wounds and insecurities. In fact, most of the characters in this movie are searching for a way to heal: something to satisfy their longings for love and acceptance.

Those of you who read the book will have an easier time following the story and should not be too concerned about the slight differences that are inevitable when translating a great novel into a screenplay. It took a while to accept Kevin Spacey as Quoyle, who in the book is a large, clumsy and rather unattractive man. But Spacey's skill is proof that a great actor can bring life to a great character. You will enjoy his transformation from a man with a weakness to one with strength. I found Judy Dench to be spectacularly cast; her portrayal of the aunt has the unflinching quality of the stalwart, no-nonsense character in Annie Proulx’ pages.

This story is about people dealing with painful pasts and reckonings amidst a harsh but beautiful landscape; a grasping of the devils that plague us. It is about facing our deepest fears. Slowly, the characters find that with patience and understanding, healing, and perhaps even love, is possible.

Peggy Sugarman has spent 25 years working in California's workers' compensation system, having served 8 years as the Chief Deputy Director of the state's regulatory agency. She holds a Master's degree in Counseling and is currently consulting for the California Applicants' Attorneys Association -- an organization of attorneys who represent workers and fights for legislation to help workers who are injured on the job. She occasionally writes for on-line publications and is working on her first novel. She and her husband and two daughters reside in Oakland, California.

You can email Peggy with movies you’d like to see reviewed at Psugarman7@aol.com