MYMHM: "The Shipping News"

Last week I wrote a post entitled "10 Great Films You May Have Missed". After writing this, I realized how many movies I'd forgotten to include. There are so many undiscovered little film gems out there that narrowing it down to a top ten simply isn't possible. So I've decided to make it a regular topic: Movies You May Have Missed, or MYMHM. I find that I am constantly encountering (or re-encountering) films that for whatever reason failed to make a lasting impression on the moviegoing public. Pretty much everything these days is available on DVD. I mean, if John was able to purchase for me (as a gag gift, mind you) a DVD called "The Very Best of Ray Stevens", then finding a few lesser-known film titles is really relatively easy.

My latest pick as a MYMHM is one I had the pleasure of re-watching last night, 2001's "The Shipping News". Despite a cast of top names, a revered director, and a script based on the smash Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by E. Annie Proulx, "The Shipping News" came and went without much fanfare. And it really is a shame, because this film is a powerful, sensitive exploration of relationships, redemption, and the ties that bind us all.

"The Shipping News" revolves around one man, Quoyle (Kevin Spacey), who can only be described as a beyond-pathetic loser. After fathering a daughter with the wildly irresponsible Petal (Cate Blanchett), Quoyle learns his parents have died in an apparent double suicide. This prompts the entrance of his aunt Agnis Hamm (Judi Dench), who wants to pay her respects to her brother's ashes, which Quoyle now has in his possession. Yet Agnis can't help but be drawn into the pitiful state of her nephew's existence: he's a fumbling ne'er-do-well, struggling to raise his daughter Bunny on his own (Petal flees the bonds of wife and mother pretty quickly) and not make a total mess of everything, as he usually does. She ends up taking both Quoyle and Bunny back to their ancestral home in Newfoundland -- a place of perpetual gray skies and seal flipper pie -- and this is where the majority of "The Shipping News" takes place. Actually, not simply "takes place": Newfoundland is where the story soars.

All the buried family histories, the dirty secrets, the despicable deceits, the tattered relationships and destroyed trusts, come brimming to the surface once the unconventional family is resettled in Newfoundland. Quoyle, feeling something akin to support for the first time in his life, slowly grows rejuvenated by the power of his family home, his newfound relationship with his aunt, and the fiery love of his daughter. He becomes a part of the small town in which they live, and, in turn, becomes a thread in the tapestry of the quirky society. He gets a job writing for the local paper (this is our first sign that things may be looking up for our hapless hero, since he's not a writer but an inksetter), befriends his colleagues and neighbors, and sets off on a rocky interest in the town's grieving young widow, Wavey Prowse (Julianne Moore). As he begins to assert himself in the light of the new community surrounding him, Quoyle gradually, believably, sets off on an evolution that is both affirming and painful. He's at a tricky point: on the verge of a bright future while staring directly into the darkness of his past. "The Shipping News" is a story of one man's healing while cradled in the arms of his stormy history.

Upon watching the movie again, I'd forgotten how dark this tale is. It's all there: all that "stuff" we have from years, even generations, past. But the film handles it all with a surprising grace and refreshing sensibility. You won't find any big shiny happy emotional breakthroughs here. You will find, though, the much more realistic landscape of all-too-human characters attempting to reconcile the pain of yesterday with the promise of what can be. It's a noble story, done with intelligence and integrity.

Director Lasse Hallstrom perfectly captures both the moodiness and eccentricities of Proulx's book. His love for these characters is apparent in every frame. And cinematographer Oliver Stapleton does majestically gorgeous work here, painting the entire film in somber earth tones and soft, sensual blues. Despite the bleak trenches of the story, the sensitive vistas of stark Newfoundland present a surprisingly inviting and warm love letter to the Canadian province.

Spacey is a terrific actor, and he imbues his Quoyle with a masterful balance of wit and pathos. Making such a miserable character not only interesting, but a hero, is a tough job, and Spacey does it with easy grace and skill. Blanchett and Moore are always brilliant, and they don't disappoint as the two very different women in Quoyle's life. And then there is Judi Dench. Oh, Judi! Is there anything this woman CAN'T do? Everything she touches turns to gold, and she plays Agnis with class and unadorned ferocity. Behind the set lines and almost feline eyes of Agnis's face, there bubbles a complex, damaged rage that always seems about to spill over. Dench skillfully translates Agnis's pain and grief with no more than a slight movement of the head, or a nearly-imperceptible lilt to her gravelly voice.

The only complaint I had about "The Shipping News" was its tendency, in the last 45 minutes or so, to both introduce and tie up a series of minor subplots that take away from the character study at hand. I realize that these smaller stories were meant to further illustrate Quoyle's progressive journey, but for the most part, they don't come off much better than a distraction. I would've liked to have spent more time with Agnis, or with Wavey, to perhaps peek a bit more into their own complicated histories.

But what's so surprising about "The Shipping News" is the message of hope it brings. The story isn't always a pleasant one, but that's what makes it so universal. And it shows us that second chances and new opportunities can come in the most unexpected of places.