The Shipping News

By Rick Curnutte

Richard A. Curnutte, Jr. is the Editor of The Film Journal. He has studied English and Film at Ohio University and The Ohio State University.

The latest literary/Miramax/Oscar/Lasse Hallstrom opus stands as the most yawn-inducing "serious" film of last year. A ho-hum tale of a clutz's journey towards self-discovery, The Shipping News has the unfortunate distinction of being the film that features Kevin Spacey's least convincing and effective performance, and that includes Pay it Forward. The film's beginning rushes through its introduction to the main characters, then thrusts Spacey and his daughter into the forced narrative.

Judi Dench is her normal matronly self, Julianne Moore looks genuinely bored and Spacey can't seem to get his sea legs. Only Cate Blanchett, as Spacey's deceased wife, makes any lasting impression, and she's dead within ten minutes or so.

A leaden, trite, completely lifeless production.