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CibbuanoThe Shipping News
December 5th 2006 08:18
Following up on the well-recieved 'The Cider House Rules', director Lasse Hallstrom adapted another award-winning novel to film, using a well-chosen cast of grade A talent and the beautiful and quirky location of Newfoundland.
Kevin Spacey plays yet another loser, but thankfully manages to do it differently. He is Quoyle, a Newfoundland-descended man with little ambition or aim, who meets his long-lost aunt after a series of unfortunate events and leaves with her to start a new life in Newfoundland. Surrounding him are all manner of skewed characters, the sort of characters who work well in novels but don't necessarily translate to screen...
The characters are barely introduced/sketched upon the screen before we are lifted right into their stories - such is the danger of condensing a novel into film. Hallstrom, already a deft storyteller himself, manages to avoid any pacing problems but seems to struggle with the tone of the story and characters. Odd characters do not engage, and the protagonist is too distant to identify with for the film to be anchored by his presence, and as a result the viewer's emotions are not as stirred as they might otherwise be. And at times it all comes across as just strange for the sake of being strange.
It's not a bad film by any stretch though, the above is a small quibble in a story as thematically rich as this - here we learn of the adventure of life itself, the healing of wounds, and the need to overcome the sins of the past. The few and far between moments of emotional intensity come at surprising times throughout the narrative, and often caught me offguard. And whilst the characters may not engage directly, they're still interesting enough to hold the attention indefinitely, especially the supporting cast, brought to life by the marvellous Pete Postlethwaite, Rhys Ifans and Scott Glenn. Judi Dench, once again, never puts a foot wrong. Julianne Moore doesn't really do much for me, but at least she's not annoying. Cate Blanchett's contribution, whilst memorable and on sight, isn't really large enough to warrant her name being plastered all over the film's promotional materials.
It's a good film, just not as great as it could've been - and, as I said, this is probably just down to the old film-can't-measure-up-to-novel problem. It's strongest aspect is the portrayal of the land at it's centre, Newfoundland, a remotely cold and silver place where people drag houses over ice and lash them to the Earth so they won't blow away. The cinematography is crisp and clear, and does a lot of favours to the film and it's location. It's not as good as 'The Cider House Rules', but it's still way ahead a lot of other 'dramas'.
HIGHLIGHTS: Not really a 'highlight', but there's a scene where Judi Dench takes a piss - shocking!
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