Synopsis
David is a teenager whose parents are in a deteriorating marriage after their infant daughter dies. Clara is a chambermaid at a Jamaican resort who's hired to be a housekeeper. She and David develop a close bond, opening his eyes and heart to new experiences, and eventually leading to a disturbing secret in Clara's past.
Votre Filmothèque
Cast
- Whoopi GoldbergClara Mayfield
- Michael OntkeanBill Hart
- Kathleen QuinlanLeona Hart
- Neil Patrick HarrisDavid Hart
- Spalding GrayPeter Epstein
- Jason DownsAlan Lipsky
- Hattie WinstonBlanche Loudon
- Beverly ToddDora Cambridge
- Maria BroomFelicia
- Frederick StrotherBundy
Recommandations
- 80
Los Angeles Times
All and all, it adds up to a delightful, unpretentious movie, hands down the richest work Whoopi Goldberg has done on the screen. - 80
Variety
Buoyed by a beautifully measured star turn by Whoopi Goldberg and a smashing screen debut for young Neil Patrick Harris, Clara's Dream is a powerful, unabashedly sentimental drama. - 75
The Associated Press
Clara's Heart is a warm movie with many lessons to tell, if one is willing to listen. Its force is aided by Goldberg's performance and a noteworthy movie debut of Neil Patrick Harris as David. [17 Oct 1988] - 67
Christian Science Monitor
Whoopi Goldberg has a lot of heart; Neil Patrick Harris gives a sensitive performance as her young friend; and the supporting cast is solid. The screenplay is gushy, though, and director Robert Mulligan rarely tones it down. [14 Oct 1988, p.21] - 63
Washington Post
Clara's Heart has several pluses. There's the rapport between Goldberg and Harris, impressive in his screen debut. And it is a relief to see Goldberg working back into The Color Purple mode. - 60
The New York Times
Directed by Robert Mulligan in an unapologetically sentimental style, Clara's Heart succeeds in tugging the heartstrings only when Clara herself is on screen. - 50
Time Out
Mulligan's adaptation of Joseph Olshan's novel doesn't merely flirt with pathos, it positively marries it. - 50
Miami Herald
Whoopi Goldberg gives a first-rate performance in Clara's Heart, enough to atone for the sins of her Fatal Beauty period. But it's nifty work in a lost cause. The movie is sickly sweet, shot through with the kind of confectioner's sentiment that Hollywood used to crank out on assembly lines until the formula slid into disuse. [21 Oct 1988, p.E10]
