Dolores Claiborne (1995)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Taylor Hackford

Writers (WGA):

Stephen King (book)
Tony Gilroy (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 March 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Sometimes, an accident can be an unhappy woman's best friend

Plot:

A big-city reporter travels to the small town where her mother has been arrested for the murder of an elderly woman that she works for as a maid.

Plot Keywords:

Reporter | Murder | Flashback | Maine | Well

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Kathy Bates	...	Dolores Claiborne
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Selena St. George
Judy Parfitt	...	Vera Donovan
Christopher Plummer	...	Det. John Mackey
David Strathairn	...	Joe St. George
Eric Bogosian	...	Peter
John C. Reilly	...	Const. Frank Stamshaw
Ellen Muth	...	Young Selena
Bob Gunton	...	Mr. Pease
Roy Cooper	...	Magistrate
Wayne Robson	...	Sammy Marchant
Ruth Marshall	...	Secretary
Weldon Allen	...	Bartender
Tom Gallant	...	Searcher
Kelly Burnett	...	Jack Donovan

Also Known As:

Dolores (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Dolores (Germany) [de]
Dolores (Poland) [pl]
Dolores Claiborne (Denmark) [da]
Dolores Claiborne (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Dolores Claiborne (Slovenia) [sl]
Dolores Claiborne (France) [fr]
Dolores Claiborne (Finland) [fi]
Dolores Clairborne (Hungary) [hu]
Eclipse Total (Portugal) [pt]
Eclipse total (Argentina) [es]
Eclipse total (Dolores Claiborne) (Spain) [es]
Hashadot M'Ha-Avar (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
L'ultima eclissi (Italy) [it]
Oliki ekleipsi (Greece) [el]
Stephen Kings Dolores (Germany) [de]
Stephen Kings Dolores Claiborne (Germany) (complete title) [de]

MPAA:

Rated R for language and domestic abuse.

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:12 | USA:R (certificate #33558) | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 (bw) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

While filming the scene on the ferry between Dolores and Selena, Jennifer Jason Leigh became seasick. A student from the local high school was pulled out of class to act as a stand-in.

Goofs:

Continuity: A scene shows Dolores driving the night before a total solar eclipse. The scene shows a full moon, which is impossible since a full moon cannot occur less than 14 days before a total solar eclipse.

Quotes:

Dolores Claiborne: If you say you're sorry one more time, I'll K I C K your butt up so high you'll look like a hunchback.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Miracles and Mystery: Creating 'The Green Mile' (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Happy Days Are Here Again

Kathy Bates Shines

It isn't quite fair to say that 'Dolores Claiborne' is a one-woman show, but let's face it; it's pretty much a virtuoso performance from Kathy Bates. She dominates virtually every scene she's in, shows tremendous range, from tender to sour and bitter, to borderline maniacal, and leaves you wondering who else on Earth could possibly have pulled it off.

That's not to belittle the rest of the cast. The other actors are adequate at very least, and Judy Parfitt puts in a performance as the bedridden Vera Donovan, which is the one time that Bates is slightly overshadowed.

Briefly, a middle-aged, working-class widow (Bates) in a small Maine town (where else, for SK?) is suspected of murdering her rich, elderly employer (Parfitt) in an apparently open and shut case. Christopher Plummer is the nasty lawman who is convinced she also killed her husband years before. Meanwhile, her estranged daughter from New York comes up to cover the story for a newspaper, and... well, you don't really need to know any more details before seeing the movie.

It's adapted from a Stephen King novel, and being a drama rather than a supernatural story, it has a flying headstart, being in the company of 'Green Mile', 'Stand By Me', and 'Shawshank Redemption' rather than 'Christine' or 'Salem's Lot'. Whereas it isn't in the exalted league of those movies, it's miles ahead of most of the horror adaptation of King stories. Take Bates out and it might be rather ordinary, but as it it, Dolores gets a very solid 7.0 from me.