Customer Reviews

Dolan's Cadillac [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This movie caught my attention at the video store and I read the synopsis and it sounded like it had potential, so I decided to give it a go. First off this film is based on a Stephen King short story which I learned during the opening credits of the dvd, being a Stephen King fan this made me expect more from the get go and I was not disappointed. Christian Slater and Wes Bentley both did an excellent job. Dolan's Cadillac was well paced and a pleasure to watch from beginning to end. One down side is i would have liked to know a little bit more about Wes Bentley's slain wife, but this did not take away too much from the film in my opinion. If you like revenge/thriller themed movies Dolan's Cadillac will not disappoint.

Wes Bentley continues to impress me with his acting ability. He has been in only a handful of recognizable films to the main stream Hollywood industry with such titles being P2, Ghost Rider, and American beauty. i would like to see him in more films.

Being an avid reader of Stephen King's books, I'm always a little weary of how his stories are adapted to the screen. I bought this movie on blu-ray, not knowing if it would be any good and was very surprised at what an excellent job director Jeff Beesley did with this story.
Starring Christian Slater and Wes Bentley (American Beauty , Ghost Rider), the movie was very well adapted. Robinson (Bentley) seeks revenge on Jimmy Dolan (Slater) who murders Robinson's wife (Emmanuelle Vaugier) after she inadvertently witnesses one of Dolan's crimes. Unable to deal with his wife's death, Robinson plots his revenge against Vegas crime boss Dolan and carries it out with a unique twist.
Bentley gives an outstanding performance as the heartbroken widower and Slater's crazed performance as the deranged mobster are the heart of the movie. Slater's performance is reminiscent of his role in "Heathers" from the 1980's.
Well directed, it is a surprisingly fine adaption of Mr. King's work. I only hope that more of the masters work will be adapted for the big screen soon. Would love to see Bag Of Bones, Rose Madder & Duma Key on the screen one day.
So, grab a soda and a bucket of popcorn and take a ride in Dolan's Cadillac!

Dolan's Cadillac is quite an impressive looking film. The budget was probably fairly small but that doesn't particularly show. The actors all do a fine job and the dialogue is very good. If it has a flaw it's that it's based on a short story and there's not really enough happening to justify the running time. As an hour long tv film it would be outstanding. Even so, it's well made and worth a watch.

"Dolan's Cadillac" is the first story from "nightmares and dreamscapes". it follows the story of a schoolteacher who seeks revenge on a gangster for killing his wife in a car explosion. The original story was told in first person and set up the protagonist as a middle-aged, bald man who seemed harmless on the outside with evil intentions on the inside. it also sets up Dolan as an elderly gangster who parties all the time and it's never specified what he deals in.

Short stories are not easy to expand into films but are possible. Many of King's short stories have been transcribed into movies and this is the latest attempt and--getting to the point---it is bad.

i could almost go scene by scene to explain why but I'll keep my points simple. I understand that books in general can be tough to make into movies and exceptions must be made. I will give Beesley credit for getting 3 well known actors to work with him. but I never felt a connection beween Robinson and his wife. and I sure never felt satisfaction (or fear for that matter) when Robinson's plan comes to fruition. I think the problem lies in the fact that Slater doesn't play a good gangster and perhaps would have been better played as Robinson or not in the movie at all. He seems too innocent to play a heartless gangster and the part should have been played by someone more intimating.

Bentley plays Robinson and I couldn't get any real emotional attachment out of the marriage with his wife or feel the pain and anger he goes through in planning his revenge. Bentley has been best known as starring in creepy or evil roles and his face shows that he could have made a better Dolan than Slater could have.

As for the script, it's horrible. Except for the Dialogue taken straight from the original story (about 10 minutes worth). The movie opens with a scary description of a man who is supposed to be Dolan. Problem is that Monologue describes Randall Flagg, another King character altogether, has nothing to do with this story and has supernatural powers. it had no place in telling the story because it showcased Dolan for something that he wasn't and made no sense.

Other problems included the manner that Robinson's wife dies. It holds that she dies in a explosion, but the scene leading up to that makes it feel like a dream sequence and makes no explanation as to why his wife is even leaving to get into the car. it would have made more sense had their been a fight, but for her to just get out of bed and whimsically run down the hallway and into her car made it pointless. and other scenes in the movie's editing is so poorly done it looks like a high school video student put it together.

Beesley says in the 'making of' that he had to give his everything to make this movie good and sadly this doesn't cut it. poor acting, bad script, bad editing and bad casting causes this to be a very bad film. If Beesley tried to make Robinson seem more corrupted and more of a tragic figure. maybe this wouldn't be so bad. as it is, it's just that: bad.

For some reasons, very few Steven King stories get well translated to the screen.

The BEST is probably SHAWSHANk REDEMPTION by far
Great movie !!!

But almost every other King story that gets turned into a movie (including this one) simply fail.

Could not make it to the end.

Just did not hold our attention at all.

While this isn't exactly a masterpiece, "Dolan's Cadillac" is ten times better than most of the Stephen King fare out there (his movies *and* books). I still remember reading the film's story title "Dolan's Cadillac" when I was young in that great collection "Everything's Eventual" and never forgetting the sheer macabre subtlety with which King ends the cool, chilling tale of an ordinary man's revenge on a top mobster who had his wife murdered for testifying against him as a witness to a crime.

Wes Bentley (Robinson, recalling well Weldon Kee's disillusioned, angry poetic persona) is a sixth grade schoolteacher with a relatively happy life and a lovely wife who teaches at the same school. They live around Las Vegas and one day, while she is horseriding around the desert, she witnesses the thuggish, brutal Christian Slater execute a fellow henchmen for not delivering his "sex slave product" on time. She drops her cellphone, and though they are given witness protection, she is killed with a car bomb.


No, Robinson is not as bald as in the story and yes it departs from the text quite a bit--but in the end, perhaps for a little innovative creativity. When Robinson devises his most cruel trap--a tarpaulin facade on the highway which is in reality a huge ditch meant for Dolan's (Christian Slater) and he falls in, the dialogue is worthy of some of the finest literature we have--in some parts hammy, in other parts superior to King's ending itself, though he was aiming for a more obsessive and subtle approach. Edgar Allan Poe is in the air, to be certain. The question of revenge, particularly this sort of elaborately devised and sinister sort, is explored with exquisite detail as the two characters scream at each other, one buried in the desert with nothing but a gun he can no longer use, and one with a conscience that is being severely tested. Not a masterpiece, but a brilliant adaptation, and absolutely recommended to any fan of the original Stephen King.

DOLAN'S CADILLAC is a tight revenge thriller. It is entertaining once, but I find Slater hard to buy as a despicable villain. Based on a S. King story, the movie has all the "human in a desperate situation" you'd expect. The acting is passable but not outstanding. I do think the elaborate task of revenge that the film portrays is incredibly cruel, and it leaves you with a wicked taste in your mouth.

The synopsis sounded interesting: An average man's wife is murdered by a fearsome gangster and the wimpy husband finds a great way to get revenge. Everyone loves good revenge movies....unfortunately, this one is just not very good.

Problem No. 1 is that it is adapted from a Stephen King short story. I enjoy Stephen King novels, but never cease to be disappointed by screen adaptations of them. Somehow my imagination, while reading, is always way more scary and inventive that the visual interpretation provided by a movie studio. This one is no exception.

No. 2 is that Christian Slater overacts, in this movie, to a degree that is always distracting and often comical. He can portray a cold-blooded maniac quite well (see him in True Romance), but his supposed satanic viciousness in this opus is conveyed by a lot of yelling, "hard" looks at the camera, and unconvincing tough-guy dialog. At no time does he ever appear truly dangerous or psychotic. Instead, he comes off as a very well dressed, baby-faced, loud-mouthed, overconfident, silly little guy. As testimony to this, we are told (the weakest of all expository methods) how bad Dolan is....twice. To be honest, I think he was cast for his marquee appeal rather than for being appropriate for the part.

No. 3 is Wes Bentley's eyebrows. These things have a life of their own. They look like giant black caterpillars hovering over dark, psychotic eyes. They are all I ever see when I look at him, and its probably just as well, because his acting is generally at a "made for TV" level. He looked far scarier than Christian Slater at all times, however, and would have made a far more convincing villain than "common man".

No. 4 is the conclusion. SPOILER ALERT.....How is this crime ever going to go undetected? The first car that passed over the cut-up asphalt would compress it and sink a foot or so, or simply stop to see why the road looked like a jigsaw puzzle. How did Wes construct this elaborate trap in such a short period of time? Where did he put all the dirt? What are the odds that Dolan's car would pass this spot at exactly the right time? Why didn't Wes just pave over it? He had all the equipment at hand. To be honest, this ending just reeked of Stephen King: an overly elaborate, completely incredible solution to a very basic problem. It was the climax of the whole movie, and I was not impressed.

Some people really liked this movie. I am always suspicious that wild praise of something truly mediocre may be due to ulterior motives. It is not badly made, the sound and photography are quite good, and portions of the plot are definitely watchable, particularly the parts involving Emmanuele Vaugier.

I have watched hundreds of movies in my life and know a good one when I see it. Whether the movie suits my personal taste or not, true quality shows through and is undeniable. Please believe me, unless you are very young and/or very naive, this is simply a very mediocre movie.

I thought twice about checking out this movie, but so glad that I did. Slater plays a rather narcissistic slave trader with an invincable fortress in the form of a custom built Caddilac SUV. Bullet proof and loaded with electronics he's always safe in it.
When a school teacher on horseback sees him murder some truck drivers for damaging his "product", she decides to testify against him. After her obvious demise, her husband "another teacher", has to devise a way to get his revenge. Story line is great, odd characters throughout the story adds to the entertainment and the ending keeps you wondering about the outcome to the last moment053803 Life at Fifteen.

The movie holds your interest up to a point, but after watching it to the very end, I felt that I had
just wasted my time. At the end of the film, it's watching a so-so actor together with Christian Slater, who hams it up, and overacts. Slater is talented, but
this was a waste of his talent. Maybe it was just a case of bad direction. I thought the story was paper thin, and the acting also thin and unimpressive, all the way through, with clichés.
Showing the wife now and then, the way the director did, was a tired cliché,I thought. I wouldn't recommend this film
to anybody. I do like Christian Slater, when the material is good.