The Shipping News Movie (2001)

This is not a film for those of you who like crash bang wallop Arnold Schwarzenneger movies. This is a movie for those of us that like to see characters lives being revealed as though you were pulling layers from an onion....

Quoyle (Kevin Spacey), a New York inksetter with little imagination and even less confidence, finds himself, amazingly, married to Petal (Cate Blanchett), a wild, hot-blooded woman, always looking for excitement, by whom he has a child, Bunny. After Petal dies in a car crash, Quoyle reconnects with his Aunt Agnis (Judi Dench), who has come to New York after the death of her brother, Quoyle's father. Both at a loss, they decide to return to the family home in Newfoundland. The old house, tied down by cables to keep it from blowing away in storms, is still standing, though it has been empty for forty-four years, and the family moves in.

Working as a reporter for a local newspaper, Quoyle reports car crashes and the shipping news. Though he has no sense of drama and no real writing ability, he finds that some of the stories he uncovers interest people, and he begins to develop emotionally. Through his contact with a vivid local community and the friendships that evolve, he uncovers some of his own family history, shows a confidence he's never had before, and begins to face his personal demons, as do daughter Bunny and Aunt Agnis.