Dolores Claiborne on DVD (1995)

Average rating: 67%

from 631 members

6 Critics reviews
17 Members reviews

Starring:	Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Strathairn, John C. Reilly, Ellen Muth, Eric Bogosian, Christopher Plummer, Judy Parfitt
Director:	Taylor Hackford
Studio:	WARNER HOME VIDEO
Run time:	126 mins
Certificate:
Collections:	100 Feisty Females
User collections:	Kathy Bates and stuff.......
Genres:	Thriller
Languages:	English
Dubbed:	French, Italian
Hearing-impaired:	English, Italian
Subtitles:	Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish
Released:	21/08/2000

Brief synopsis of Dolores Claiborne

Eighteen years ago, the abusive husband of Dolores Claiborne (Kathy Bates) died under mysterious circumstances. His death was ruled an accident despite the suspicions of police detective John Mackey. Now the elderly woman she has nursed for many years has also died--with Dolores found standing over her body with a rolling pin in her upraised hands--and this time she is accused of murder. Her estranged daughter (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who blames Dolores for her father's death, returns to confront her with her resentment. Are things as cut-and-dried as they seem, or is there more to the story

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Critics Reviews

Radio Times

Kathy Bates, who won an Oscar for her performance in the film version of Stephen King's novel Misery, here stars in another King adaptation, this time as a housekeeper accused of killing her elderly employer. Jennifer Jason Leigh co-stars as Bates's daughter, who suspects her mother is guilty of more than one killing. There are magnificent portrayals all round, especially from Christopher Plummer as a retired and vengeful cop, but Bates steals every scene she's in.

Rating of 2
stars out of 4 Halliwell's Film Guide

Effective melodrama with feminist overtones: all the women are abused or misunderstood, all the men are abusers; what saves it from too much over-simplification is the revelation of the reasons for the edgy relationship between mother and daughter.

Entertainment Weekly

"...[Bates and Leigh] seem hell-bent to get to the core of their characters....All the tension and pleasure of a great pitchers' duel..." -- Rating: A-

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Members Reviews

Reviews Voted Most Helpful

A Masterpiece

Ilona Dubber from Havant , 09/09/2004

I watched this film without expectation, and found it to be one of the most enjoyable and top class films I have seen in a long time.

Cathy Bates is excellent as Dolores Claiborne, and you really get to feel for her character. I haven't read the book so not knowing how it ended made the film even better. The story develops perfectly, you are neither left bored or feeling like you've missed something - a frequent downside to some movies.

It's hard to say too much without giving the plot away, but the way the beginning and the end intertwined and gave such differing version of the same event was incredible well done.

If you like Stephen King/Cathy Bates, you are in for a real treat. If you don't, it is one that you will really enjoy anyway.

11 out of 13 people found this review helpful

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Awsome!!

A customer from lincolnshire England , 09/12/2005

When i rented this one i wasnt too optomistic. But it proved to be the best film i have rented so far.

The film concerns a realationship beetween a mother and her daughter. The plot very often switches from past and present.

The mother Dolores is well written and acted as is the daughters role. The film starts as a murder / crime is being commited then challenges the viewer on what they really saw.

If your expecting Stephen Kings supernatural stuff than give this one a miss. Its in the same catagory as the the shawshark redemption, and stand by me.

The part towards the end i must warn you is a little DISTURBING. Although it is dealing with a real life issue very well it IS NOT COMFORTABLE viewing!!!

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

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