Dolores Claiborne

    Dolores Claiborne
    1995

    Synopsis

    Dolores Claiborne was accused of killing her abusive husband twenty years ago, but the court's findings were inconclusive and she was allowed to walk free. Now she has been accused of killing her employer, Vera Donovan, and this time there is a witness who can place her at the scene of the crime. Things look bad for Dolores when her daughter Selena, a successful Manhattan magazine writer, returns to cover the story.

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    Cast

    • Kathy BatesDolores Claiborne
    • Jennifer Jason LeighSelena St. George
    • Judy ParfittVera Donovan
    • Christopher PlummerJohn Mackey
    • David StrathairnJoe St. George
    • Eric BogosianPeter
    • John C. ReillyConst. Frank Stamshaw
    • Ellen MuthYoung Selena
    • Bob GuntonMr. Pease
    • Roy CooperMagistrate

    Recommendations

    • 80

      Washington Post

      The movie is given unusually wide dimension by director Taylor Hackford, who creates a subtly scary drama that emphasizes character over caricature (in most cases) and plausibility over formulaic stupidity (again, in most cases).
    • 80

      Chicago Reader

      Although most of the elements are familiar and virtually all of the characters are unpleasant, this is a better than average melodrama--mainly because of the volcanic power of Kathy Bates in the title role.
    • 75

      Chicago Sun-Times

      It's sometimes distracting to tell a story in flashbacks and memories; the story line gets sidetracked. The director, Taylor Hackford, is successful, however, in making the present seem to flow into and out of the past.
    • 75

      ReelViews

      Although the forced ending, which seems deigned to create an unnatural moment of triumph, weakens the climactic catharsis, it doesn't diminish the naked honesty which forms the foundation of Dolores Claiborne.
    • 75

      San Francisco Chronicle

      The mysteries of Dolores Claiborne are never gripping enough to consume an audience, and there are few, if any, surprises along the way. But the women are wonderful and reason enough to see the picture.
    • 75

      San Francisco Examiner

      All the performances are good, the script is subtle and waste-free and Danny Elfman's score is evocative and appropriate, but the direction is what gives the movie its sweep.
    • 70

      The New York Times

      Written as a book-length harangue from its heroine's point of view, and directed efficiently by Taylor Hackford, Dolores Claiborne has become a vivid film that revolves around Ms. Bates's powerhouse of a performance.
    • 70

      Washington Post

      Taylor Hackford's film version of the Stephen King novel, has a whopping list of shortcomings -- and yet it still manages to be an engrossing, unsettling and, at times, powerful psychological thriller.

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