Dolores Claiborne [Blu-ray]

Director: Taylor Hackford Taylor Hackford

Overview

A daughter who has come to imagine the worst about her mother learns the facts are quite different -- and more shocking than she ever imagined -- in this adaptation of Stephen King's best-selling novel. Dolores Claiborne (Kathy Bates) has spent nearly a quarter of a century looking after a mean-spirited woman named Vera Donovan (Judy Parfitt) on a small island off the coast of Maine; when Vera is found dead after falling down a flight of stairs, Dolores is considered a prime suspect in her murder. Word of the affair reaches New York-based journalist Selena St. George (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Dolores's estranged daughter. Though she's about to leave on an important assignment, Selena instead flies to Maine to find out what's happened with her mother. Selena's father, Joe St. George (David Strathairn), died under mysterious circumstances 15 years before; more than a few people believe Dolores killed Joe, and many feel she did the same with Vera. Though the strong and tough-talking Dolores stands her ground, police detective John Mackey (Christopher Plummer) is convinced that there's more to her story than she's letting on, and in time Selena learns the ugly truth about her mother's connection to both deaths. This was Kathy Bates's second starring role in a film based on Stephen King's work; she earned an Academy Award for her breakthrough role in the movie version of King's Misery.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/21/2017
UPC:	0888574548568
Original Release:	1995
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:11:00
Sales rank:	13,710

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

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	Constable Frank Stamshaw,Actor
Ellen Muth	Young Selena
Bob Gunton	Mr. Pease
Roy Cooper	Magistrate
Wayne Robson	Sammy Merchant
Ruth Marshall	Secretary
Weldon Allen	Bartender
Tom Gallant	Searcher
Kelly Burnett	Jack Donovan
Matt Appleby	Kid on Street
Thomas Skinner	Kid on Street
Vernon Steele	Ferry Vendor
Taffara Jessica	Selena (age 5)
Stella Murray	Selena (age 5)
Susan Lane	Crying Girl
Frank Adamson	Detective Supervisor
Ed Rubin	Detective Supervisor,Detective supervisor
Sandy MacDonald	Sheriff
Dean Eilertson	Moving Man
Vernon Steel	Ferry vendor
John Hickey	Actor
Danny Elfman	Composer

Technical Credits

Tony Gilroy

Stephen King

Taylor Hackford	Director,Producer
Charles Mulvehill	Producer,Producer
Ted Ross	Special Effects
Janek Sirrs	Special Effects
Gary Davis	Stunts
Nancy Klopper	Casting
Tony Gilroy	Screenwriter
Gina Blumenfeld	Producer
Vanessa Theme Ament	Sound Effects
John H. Arrufat	Sound Effects
Stephen King	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Having given her best, Oscar-winning performance in Misery (1990), actress Kathy Bates returns to the well (so to speak) of Stephen King adaptations with this dour but moving drama. Bates had a richer, more full-bodied character to play in the earlier film to be sure, but she does a remarkable job here of bringing to life a woman who is stronger than she seems at first glance. In fact, Dolores is ultimately revealed to be tougher than a hickory knot, and it's a testament to Bates's skill as an actress that she is convincing throughout most of the film as soft, yielding, and thoroughly weak, but renders believable the sudden revelation of Dolores's true nature. Jennifer Jason Leigh thankfully relinquishes the distracting affectations of some previous roles while Christopher Plummer sinks his teeth into the part of a detective clearly in the mold of Inspector Javert from Les Miserables. Although a timeworn device that filmmakers should be discouraged from employing, director Taylor Hackford utilizes the flashback sequence to great effect, understanding that King's dour tale is not really about a rural murder case but about how the past can so powerfully inform and control the present. Somber and depressing, Dolores Claiborne won't be to the taste of many horror-loving King fans, but the film's a well-acted emotional journey that ultimately proves worth taking.

All Movie Guide - Karl Williams