There's no question that the depiction of the culture is rich, the cinematography generally excellent and the acting more or less sound. While I agree with other comments about the vagaries of Dunst's accent and how nice it would have been to see more authentic and less Enyaesque music, there's no need to belabor that. But ...
There are just a few too many such flaws to sustain suspension of disbelief, and combined with plot elements of such subtlety -- is the doctor Silly's father, for instance? -- as to be impenetrable, it's not a movie I'd go out of my way to see again.
5/10.
- how in the heck is a young naval officer so stupid as to pitch a permanent tent fifty feet from the shoreline in Newfoundland?
- what exactly (if anything) is Claire "sacrificing" at the end to get the fish to come back?
- why does a poor village in the back-of-beyond just abandon the village church after suffering a modest fire, without just repairing it?
- why would a capable, experienced young woman such as Silly do nothing more than scream while James is drowning? Fishing villages have life-threatening situations all the time, and there is ample rope even on a small schooner to throw to a fellow no more than 15 yards from the boat.
- Why is Claire's mother so supremely stupid as to not figure out why dragging her daughter to Nowhere, NF, could possibly bore her? (Oh, and exactly where was the cell tower so she could use her cell phone, anyway?)
There are just a few too many such flaws to sustain suspension of disbelief, and combined with plot elements of such subtlety -- is the doctor Silly's father, for instance? -- as to be impenetrable, it's not a movie I'd go out of my way to see again.
5/10.