DOLORES CLAIBORNE
A film review by Thomas Skogestad
Copyright 1995 Thomas Skogestad
Roll of the die: 4 (with 6 being tops)
Starring: Jennifer Jason Leigh (Selena), Kathy Bates (Dolores Claiborne), David Strathairn Directed by Taylor Hackford Screenplay by Tony Gilroy, based on the novel by Stephen King Rated R (language, sexual situations, violence) Released: Friday March 24, 1995 Reviewed at Landmark's Shattuck Cinemas, Berkeley
Castle Rock has a knack for turning out well made--excellent--adaptations of Stephen King novels (STAND BY ME, MISERY). Last year brought us the sadly little seen, but terrific THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION.
So it's sad to say that DOLORES CLAIBORNE is a bit of a letdown. The plot seems to be the problem--as it's quite thin and at 131 minutes a lack of a strong plot becomes a bit tedious.
Saving the film is an excellent performance by Kathy Bates, a fitting score by Danny Elfman and some cinematography that's excellent in parts.
Kathy Bates as the title character perfects on her performance as a loony fan in MISERY. Yes, she even runs around with an ax, but we never loose sympathy for her since she truthfully portrays an "ordinary" woman who is sometimes pushed too far. Jennifer Jason Leigh is a bit hard to take at times, at times she seems to be too distant; and redoing her accent from THE HUDSUCKER PROXY and MRS. PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE only distracts more.
Since the movie is released by Sony's Columbia Pictures, the movie is also available in SDDS. Save your bucks and don't travel too far to see a movie that rarely uses the system. In fact all instances of SDDS seem to have added by the foleys long after the movie wrapped up its shooting. The best use of the system is hearing an upstairs doorknob being turned! Often I kept thinking, had the director filmed this scene from a different angle, we would have a perfect SDDS moment....
This is after all a Stephen King movie, so there are a few plot twists here and there. Perhaps one too many, the ending doesn't quite feel right. Sadly, it seems to have been heavily influenced by the "convenience city syndrome" found in OUTBREAK.
-- Thomas Skogestad thomas@kjemi.unit.no
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