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Dolores Claiborne (1995)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Release Date:
24 March 1995 (USA)
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Tagline:
Sometimes, an accident can be an unhappy woman's best friend more
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. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
1 win
&
6 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(11 articles)
Finals Week: 'The Ghost as Domestic Inheritance in Ursula Dabrowsky's Film "Family Demons"'
(From pretty-scary. 16 December 2009, 12:50 PM, PST)
50 Influential Scream Queens: Part 2
(From Fangoria. 27 October 2009, 10:57 PM, PDT)
(From pretty-scary. 16 December 2009, 12:50 PM, PST)
50 Influential Scream Queens: Part 2
(From Fangoria. 27 October 2009, 10:57 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
What Is Past Is Prologue...
more (127 total)
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 |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for language and domestic abuse.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
132 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
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:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The ferry at the end of the movie is called the "Joshua Slocum", named for the first person to circumnavigate the globe alone.
more
Goofs:
Factual errors: The eclipse is dated early in the movie as occurring in 1975. However, according to the NASA Sunsearch database records, there were no solar eclipses (total or annular) on Earth in all of 1975. Additionally, from 1961 to 1980 there were no total eclipses visible in the filming locations. The closest was visible only in the Pacific Northwest in February of 1979.
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Quotes:
Vera Donovan:
Well, don't look to me, Dolores. All my money is tied up in cash.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in Miracles and Mystery: Creating 'The Green Mile' (2006) (V)
more
Soundtrack:
Night in the Afternoon
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (127 total)
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Few Stephen King works of fiction translate well to the screen. Horror elements are best left described rather than shown - so that the darkest recesses of our own imaginations can fill in the details. The horror visions of others may or may not affect us the same way - more often than not, they fall short of true terror.
But DOLORES CLAIBORNE is the exception - a masterful condensation of the Stephen King novel of the same name. More compact and deeply psychological than the novel, the film focuses almost exclusively on telling the story (in both present-day AND multiple flashback story lines) of Dolores Claiborne and her daughter, Selena.
Charged with murdering her wealthy but crippled employer, Dolores (Kathy Bates) is reunited with her estranged daughter, Selena (Jennifer Jason-Leigh). Sullen, brilliant, but deeply disturbed by a past that still obviously haunts her, Selena returns to the lonely and isolated Maine fishing village to help her mother face the legal and familial issues raised by the murder accusation.
We learn that Dolores had previously been suspected of killing her abusive and alcoholic husband. The same detective who had been unable to press the case 17 years earlier is now assigned to the new investigation. And as his work proceeds, secrets from the past reveal themselves, through brilliant use of flashbacks.
The acting by all concerned is first rate, with Bates giving probably her finest non-Oscar-nominated performance. Jason-Leigh is spot-on as the psychologically damaged and cynical Selena - more a victim than even she knows. Christopher Plummer is excellent as the detective.
Taylor Hackford's direction is absolutely brilliant - as is the use of color saturation and creative scene blending and transition to move seamlessly between present and past.
This is an outstanding film - well worth the Oscar nominations it received (as well as those it did not!). HIghest rating!