Dolores Claiborne Movie Review 1994

Stephen King gets the Hollywood treatment again (the check cleared, King approved), with better results than previous outings (remember "Needful Things"?). Successful but neurotic New York journalist Selena (Leigh) confronts her troubled past when coarse, hard-talking mom Dolores (Bates) is accused of murdering her wealthy employer (Parfitt). Plummer is vengeful detective John Mackey who, like everyone else on the fictitious Maine island, believes Dolores murdered her husband 15 years before. Top-notch performances by Bates and Leigh highlight this sometimes manipulative tale. Straithairn is wonderfully despicable as the stereotypically deadbeat dad.

Distribution

Sony Pictures Home Video, Sony Pictures Plz., 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232, Phone: (310)244-7306, Fax: (310)280-2485, URL: http://www.spe.sony.com, Remarks: Formerly Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 132 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Psycho-Thriller, Monster Moms, Books to Film: Stephen King, Hard Knock Life, Child Abuse, Flashback, Bad Dads

Screenplay

Tony Gilroy

Cast

Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Christopher Plummer, Judy Parfitt, David Strathairn, John C. Reilly

Cinematography

Gabriel Beristain

Director

Taylor Hackford

Music

Danny Elfman

Other

Mark Warner, Dan Yarhi

Producer

Taylor Hackford, Charles Mulvehill, Castle Rock Entertainment