For me, the character development seemed off, and it ended up making the movie feel contrived and hollow. As the movie starts, Quoyle is presented as this dysfunctional loser who can barely tie his own shoes and who is stuck in a dead end job because of his repeated failures. He is a sad, broken, pathetic man.
But then he arrives in Newfoundland, and suddenly he is intelligent, social, resourceful, and clever. Sure, he still has flaws, but for the most part, they are pretty superficial. There was very little in showing him actually advance as a character, given the setup that we are to believe at the beginning.
The relationship between Quoyle and Bunny also didn't seem believable to me. The beginning of the movie showed a very tender, loving relationship, and virtually no relationship at all between Bunny and Petal. But suddenly, Bunny only has fond memories of Petal and only contempt for her Dad. Having said that, the movie does provide a bit of an explanation towards the end (Bunny was projecting her own perceived guilt over Petal's death), but the pacing and presentation still seemed off.
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