Lasse Hallström

Läkaren Wilbur Larch är föreståndare på ett barnhem där den föräldralöse Homer Welles har växt upp. Dr Larch betraktar Homer som en son och vill att han ska ta över barnhemmet en dag. Men Homer längtar efter att se sig om i världen och lämnar barnhemmet. Det är en för honom helt okänd värld full med äventyr.

Quoyle (Kevin Spacey) is a newspaper inksetter in Poughkeepsie, silently suffering in a marriage of inconvenience to a woman, Petal (Cate Blanchett) who doesn't love him and is keen to put their baby daughter up for adoption. Petal is killed in an accident however, and worse, Quoyle's parents both die fairly soon after in a dual-suicide. At the funeral he meets his aunt (Judi Dench) who persuades him the time is right to move back to his ancestral home, Newfoundland.<br/><br/>With his disturbed daughter Bunny (Kaitlyn Gainer) in tow. Despite the isolated and traditional atmosphere of the small village Quoyle forms a relationship with local divorcee Wavey Prowse (Julianne Moore) with whose handicapped son Bunny forms a friendship. He soon lands a job reporting the shipping news for a local paper and starts to rediscover a meaning to life, the nascent relationship with Wavey offering hope and redemption.