DOLORES CLAIBORNE
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 7.8
U.S. Availability: general release 3/24/95 Running Length: 2:11 MPAA Classification: R (Mature themes, language)
Starring: Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Christopher Plummer, David Strathairn, Judy Parfitt, Ellen Muth, John C. Reilly, Eric Bogosian Director: Taylor Hackford Producers: Taylor Hackford and Charles Mulvehill Screenplay: Tony Gilroy based on the book by Stephen King Cinematography: Gabriel Beristain Music: Danny Elfman Released by Columbia Pictures
Stephen King makes his living by writing horror stories, so it's odd that the most successful screen adaptations of his work are those outside the boundaries of his usual genre. STAND BY ME, MISERY, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, and now DOLORES CLAIBORNE are all intelligent, well-fashioned films that bear little resemblance to the gory schlock of SLEEPWALKERS and PET SEMATARY.
DOLORES CLAIBORNE begins as a dark and dreary murder mystery set in the small town of Little Tall, Maine. The skies above this village are continually congested with clouds, the streets are slick with rain, and the sea is gray and angry. Yet this story, which starts out as an investigation of a suspicious death, soon takes a grim, disturbing turn. Memories crowd out the present as the narrative takes us back eighteen years to expose the ugly roots of one family's dysfunction.
Two deaths lie at the center of DOLORES CLAIBORNE--Vera Donovan's (Judy Parfitt) in the present and Joe St. George's (David Strathairn) in the past. After Joe fell into a partially-concealed well during the total solar eclipse of 1975, his wife Dolores (Kathy Bates) was suspected, but never convicted, of murder. The death was eventually ruled as accidental, splotching the previously-perfect record of Detective John Mackey (Christopher Plummer). Now, nearly two decades later, Dolores stands accused of killing her invalid employer and, although the evidence is entirely circumstantial, Mackey is determined to get a conviction.
Dolores' daughter Selena (Ellen Muth at age 13; Jennifer Jason Leigh at age 31), a reporter living in New York city, receives a fax of an article in a Bangor newspaper detailing her mother's suspected involvement in Vera's death. Haunted by her muddled recollections of her father's end and driven by an unshakable conviction that her mother is guilty, she takes a brief leave-of-absence to go home. Once there, she is confronted not only by the unpleasantness of the present, but by the ghosts of the past.
Parts of DOLORES CLAIBORNE are delivered with an unshielded emotional and psychological impact. The script is not consistently at this high level--there are times, most notably during the climactic sequence--when unfortunate choices are made, but the overall result is a film that illuminates certain "forbidden" shadows. Generally, mainstream movies avoid risky material like this honest exposition of the issues underlying the fissure between Dolores and Selena.
The main characters, mother and daughter, are well-written and effectively portrayed. Dolores is a sad, lonely survivor who has, perhaps unjustly, endured a lifetime of misery. Secrets can be an oppressive burden, and Dolores has been worn down by them. Selena, on the other hand, has become an alcoholic and drug-abuser as the result of what she has repressed. Bates and Leigh, two accomplished and versatile actors, are in peak form as they settle into the isolation of their characters--two very different people whose individual pain is intertwined.
Less effort is vested in DOLORES CLAIBORNE's male principals. In the case of Joe, this is understandable. He exists only in flashbacks with our impressions filtered through Dolores' perspective. She has no reason to recall him kindly, and Strathairn's portrayal echoes this. Plummer's John Mackey, on the other hand, is basically an unpleasant person. Supposedly, he's a very good detective, but we're never shown anything other than obsession and bitterness.
There's a lot to digest in DOLORES CLAIBORNE. The subtle visual effects, which mix digital animation and live-action, form an effective framework for a story teeming with emotional turmoil. With their unique method of delineating shifts in time (a person in the present actually walking into the past), the flashbacks are invested with a degree of eerie immediacy. Although the forced ending, which seems deigned to create an unnatural moment of triumph, weakens the climactic catharsis, it doesn't diminish the human tragedy which is central to DOLORES CLAIBORNE.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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