Dolores Claiborne (1995)

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.

Director:

Taylor Hackford

Writers:

Stephen King (book), Tony Gilroy (screenplay)

Stars:

Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judy Parfitt

1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Dolores Claiborne works as a maid for a wealthy woman in remote Maine. When she is indicted for the elderly woman's murder, Dolores' daughter Selena returns from New York, where she has become a big-shot reporter. In the course of working out the details of what has happened, as well as some shady questions from the past and Selina's troubled childhood, many difficult truths are revealed about their family's domestic strife. This is cleverly portrayed with present reality shot in cool blue tones blending seamlessly into flashbacks shot in vivid color. As small town justice relentlessly grinds forward, surprises lie in store for the viewers....

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Plot Keywords:

reporter | maid | murder | maine | well | 

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Taglines:

They were separated by a death...and reunited by a murder.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and domestic abuse

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 March 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dolores

Filming Locations:

Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada

Box Office

Gross:

$24,361,867 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castle Rock Entertainment, Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Castle Rock bought the rights to Stephen King's novel for $1.5 million.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Dolores Claiborne: [to Joe] That is the last time you ever hit me! Next time, one of us is going to the bone yard.

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Connections

Referenced in Storm of the Century (1999)

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Soundtracks

"Night in the Afternoon"
Written by Hendrik Muerkens

User Reviews

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,