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

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:

In preparation for her role, Ellen Muth wrote in a journal as her character in the movie for weeks before shooting the film.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: After the brief shot of Dolores turning over her glass on the tabletop and booze dripping out, it slowly dissolves into a shot of clouds, then a pan of the shoreline to reveal the St. George house. During that pan, a portable toilet is very visible. A company in Nova Scotia rents a model that is blue with a bright yellow roof - exactly what you see in the scene. That's a fairly distinctive color scheme, which arguably makes this a geographic goof as well.

Quotes:

Vera Donovan: Don't we have a hair across our ass this morning Delores Claiborne?

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Happy Days Are Here Again

Quite amazing and scary

When I picked up the DVD of Dolores Claiborne, I wasn't sure of what to expect. I remembered that a lot of people were complaining that this wasn't Misery, starring Kathy Bates, who stars here, and the pacing was a bit off. However, when I was watching it, I was fully gripped into it's very gripping storyline of "Did she or didn't she?" and Kathy Bates pulls off another stunning performance (she never dissapoints me). All the other actresses, from Jennifer Jason Leigh, Christopher Plummer, to a then unknown John C. Reilly, also put out great performances. The direction of Taylor Hackford is top notch, and probably the biggest thing here is the cinematogrpahy, which is stunning with all the period photography (dull and grey at present, colorful in the past) and the eclipse photography is nothing short of stunning. A very surprising and entertaining watch,