There's much to admire about "The Shipping News," Lasse Hallstrom's adaptation of E. Annie Proulx's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about one man's search for redemption. Reuniting with screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs, who successfully adapted last year's "Chocolat," Hallstrom again makes vivid use of location -- in this case, a windswept fishing village along Canada's rugged eastern seaboard -- to serve as an intriguing canvas for another poignant character portrait. With a very able cast on hand to flesh out the finer details, including Oscar winners Kevin Spacey and Judi Dench and nominees Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett and Pete Postlethwaite, it makes for an artfully assembled picture.

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