6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.1 |
An inksetter in New York, Quoyle returns to his family's longtime home, a small fishing town in Newfoundland, with his young daughter, after a traumatizing experience with her mother, Petal, who sold her to an illegal adoption agency. Though Quoyle has had little success thus far in life, his shipping news column in the newspaper "The Gammy Bird" finds an audience, and his experiences in the town change his life.
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Pete PostlethwaiteRomance | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
I got used to being invisible until someone noticed me.
The Shipping News feels like a more focused version of Beautiful Girls, telling a familiar story of personal discovery and forward
life movement but with less character clutter and,
therefore, fewer dramatic heave-ho's to worry about. In Beautiful Girls, a man goes home to find himself, but does so by choice. In The
Shipping News, a man returns home to find himself, but only because terrible, curious, and coincidental circumstances -- never mind the strong
arm of Dame Judy Dench -- force him to do so. In Beautiful Girls, life is discovered through a change of scenery and the process of living in a
snowy Northeastern town. In The Shipping News, life is discovered through a change of scenery and the process of living in a snowy
Newfoundland town, with the added bonus of a real closed-off guy going back to where his name is worth more than anything he could possibly
offer, which is very little to begin with, anyway. The Shipping News isn't a miracle of a character study film, but it's a fine one nonetheless,
based on E. Annie Proulx's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. It's a quality Drama about moving on, learning form the past, and allowing
life experience to help shape a more positive future. It's a rags-to-riches story where the riches are self-confidence and even basic life functionality, not
monetary wealth. In that way, it's a more rewarding dramatic experience and a journey worth taking with Kevin Spacey in one of his best
performances yet.
Heave!
The Shipping News falls into the "typical" Echo Bridge video quality release sort of "gray area" that's not that bad but far from perfect or even close to perfection. This is a middling, rather bland image -- and the movie's somewhat cold, bleak setting doesn't help matters -- that never really pops or offers much in the way of spectacular detail or clarity. The drab details occasionally showcase some nice worn-down textures -- the old house looks particularly beaten and battered with some quality paint chip and general weathered details -- that help accentuate various scenes. Facial and clothing details suffice but never really get further than that. There's a general blandness and flatness to the image. It's not particularly filmic, though light grain elements remain over much of the film. Colors are uninspired at best but handle that cold exterior well enough. Skin textures can look a little on the pale side, but black are generally stable. Light wear in the form of speckling is evident in places, but never in excess. Mild to severe edge halos are visible, but are not constants. Overall, this is a workable image but not one to use to showcase the best of Blu-ray.
The Shipping News features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack that mirrors the video quality in that it's decent but not really noteworthy. The track struggles to recreate some of the film's critical ambient effects, whether minor or major. A lack of underwater immersion hurts the dramatic tension of the opening scene. A driving rain during the family's first stay in the decrepit house doesn't pull the listening audience into the rickety, leaky abode. Such scenes are crucial to establishing and understanding the film, and while the track handles them enough so as to not confuse the listening audience, it fails to really bring them into the movie and truly experience it. The track does seem to pick up a little more steam in a thunderstorm heard near the end of the movie, but only marginally so. Music plays with adequate front end spacing, but there's a muddiness to it that holds it back from two-channel perfection. Dialogue is clear and focused. This track gets the job done but it won't leave listeners with a lasting sonic memory.
The Shipping News contains only one supplement entitled Behind the Scenes (SD, 23:31). In it, cast and crew speak on the "tapestry" of the film, adapting it from the novel, the work of the cast and crew, the plot, the setting and the shooting locales, and more.
The Shipping News is a good little movie that shows the difference between merely existing and finding a place in life. It tells its story with both broad strokes to set the tale in motion and nuanced little touches to make it work. It's one of the better of its kind, a focused, honest, and only slightly surreal story that is told with care and acted exceptionally. Echo Bridge's Blu-ray release of The Shipping News features decent video and audio. One lengthy extra is included. Recommended on the strength of the film and the low selling price.
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