Product Details

• Actors: Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judy Parfitt, Christopher Plummer, David Strathairn
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Letterboxed, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: April 30, 1996
• Run Time: 131 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (138 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630369666X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #505,161 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Dark secrets, family torments, and two murders swirl around the stoic, hardened figure of Dolores Claiborne (Kathy Bates), a housekeeper accused of murdering her employer of 22 years. Then there was that timely accident that took Dolores's husband (David Strathairn) during the solar eclipse of 1975. Yet with all the somber suffering that follows Dolores like a miasma of pain, none of it compares with the heartache of a relationship she has with her grown daughter (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Although this flick is rife with horror, it is not of the supernatural kind, but rather of the torment only real people can impose on one another. The script is full of colorful language, and director Taylor Hackford successfully weaves several plot threads and psychological dilemmas throughout this engrossing tale without diminishing any of them. He not only culls intense performances from his cast, but he also brings to life the landscape around them. When the film's best-kept secret is finally given up, it occurs under the surreal backdrop of a solar eclipse that is a truly sensational bit of cinematography. --Rochelle O'Gorman

From The New Yorker

The title character of Taylor Hackford's film is a middle-aged Maine housekeeper (Kathy Bates) who is suspected of having killed her boss and-years ago-her husband. The screenplay, by Tony Gilroy, reinforces the structure of Stephen King's rambling novel to make it a sturdier vehicle for conventional dramatic tension. The story moves forward smoothly, but the pace is too even and the course is predictable. And Jennifer Jason Leigh, as the heroine's sullen, petulant daughter, plays her scenes with a morose intensity that seems to suck the energy out of the picture. Bates is superb, and the dark-toned cinematography (by Gabriel Beristain) is evocative, but by the end you feel about the movie the way Dolores feels about her life: that it looked good for a while and then somehow went terribly wrong. Also with Christopher Plummer, Judy Parfitt, David Strathairn, and Ellen Muth. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STUNNING -- SHOULD HAVE WON OSCARS!, February 18, 2002

By 

Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dolores Claiborne [VHS] (VHS Tape)

WOW...I won't go into any more detail than the previous reviewers did, as they have summed up my feelings too on this remarkable, underappreciated and underrated movie. Oscars should have gone to director Taylor Hackford, the cinematographer, Danny Elfman's haunting score, and the acting, oh my. Of course, Kathy Bates is overwhelming; Jennifer Jason Leigh has never been better; Christopher Plummer certainly sheds his "Sound of Music" persona; Judy Parfit is unbelievably effective as bitchy Vera, but her portrayal is so dimensional that we come to care for her; Ms. Parfit's scene with the pig musicbox playing "Happy Days Are Here Again" is brilliant. Also superb is Ellen Muth, who plays the young Selena, and John Reilly as the sheriff, who stands up to Plummer's state detective. Of course, one can't overlook David Straitharn as Dolores' cruel and abusive husband. His performance is so convincing that I don't think I'll like him in anything! My only regret is I didn't see this one earlier. Can we go back and do the 1995 Oscars over??
I loved this movie!!!! Stephen King should rank this and "The Green Mile" as his crowning adapted movies!

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An undiscovered classic, June 2, 2000

By 

James Hiller (Beaverton, OR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dolores Claiborne (DVD)

Nothing in the title of the film, or the premise, allows the watcher to be prepared for the virtual punch his powerhouse movie gives us. Led by much-deserving Oscar winner Kathy Bates and a sullen and moody Jennifer Jason Leigh, the cast brings to life several characters trapped in a story of denial, repression, and ultimately, the strength that women must have to endure life.

This film has been overlooked by many people, including myself, for many reasons. Kathy Bates in another Stephen King story seemed to repetitive from her amazing performance in "Misery". But fair warning, she is not Nurse Annie here, but a completely amazing and hard woman who deals with the trauma in her life head on. I also didn't appreciate the magical artistry of this film until buying the DVD and listening to Taylor Hackford give his wordy and brilliant commentary to the film.

I'm very glad to have purchased this DVD, and I feel you will as well!

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A finely crafted film indeed..., January 3, 2000

By 

Sren Thomsen (Århus Denmark) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dolores Claiborne (DVD)

Let me admit this: I have never read the book and I probably never will, as I am not much of a Stephen King fan. Therefore I may not have the same view on this film, as those of you who have.

Dolores Claiborne, as a movie, is surprisingly well made. I have no doubt that this is Taylor Hackford's best film yet. I am especially impressed with the visual effects he used, during the flashbacks. He paints a vivid picture of the world of Dolores Claiborne: A world of sorrow and pain. He pulls the audience into this world and never lets go. Thus, he brings us through Dolores'life and make us feel her pain.

Another great thing about this film, is the acting. Kathy Bate's is as usual brilliant. CAN she even mess up a single line? Jennifer Jason Leigh plays as she is supposed to;nothing more, nothing less. Which in itself should be considered a superb performance. And I was also really pleased by the remarkable performance of Judy Parfitt, the actress who plays Vera. Truly a great portrayl of a women who is as hurt and angry as Dolores. The scene in which she reveals her deepest, darkest secret to Dolores (you who have seen the film will know what I am talking about) is truly one of the best scenes from a movie the last 20 years! She should have gotten an Oscar! Plummer, as detective Mackey is also extremely good. Especially in the finale of the film. Very intense!

However, I feel there is one element of this film that so far has been largely overlooked by the other reviewers: Danny Elfman's superb score. Indeed, this score should be considered one of the finest EVER. Right up there with Herrmann's PSYCHO and Steiner's KING KONG. And I seriously mean that. Elfman's music is, perhaps more than any other element of the film, that which creates the painfull, sadly mysterious atmosphere of this movie. He uses an orchestra largely consistning of strings with added piano etc. and hereby creates a cold, stark sound which is as harsh as our lead character. Yet, he also gives us a score filled with emotion and pain, a score which makes the audience (whether consiously or subconsiously) more involved in the story and makes us feel closely connected to the characters. He creates a tention, that to this day has never been mached in any other score before or since.

Still, Dolores Claiborne is not perfect (Which film is?). The script could have been fairly better penned, especially the inquest scene where Dolores is being questioned.

But overall, this is a finely crated film, which has a lot to offer in the visual department, the acting and especially the score. Well done Taylor Hacford and Danny Elfman!