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Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judy Parfitt, Christopher Plummer, David Strathairn ... see more see more... , Eric Bogosian , John C. Reilly , Wayne Robson , Roy Cooper , Frank Adamson , Vernon Steel , Bob Gunton , John Benjamin Hickey , Ellen Muth , Judy Parett

A daughter who has come to imagine the worst about her mother learns the facts are quite different -- and more shocking than she ever imagined -- in this adaptation of Stephen King's best-selling nove... read more read more...l. Dolores Claiborne (Kathy Bates) has spent nearly a quarter of a century looking after a mean-spirited woman named Vera Donovan (Judy Parfitt) on a small island off the coast of Maine; when Vera is found dead after falling down a flight of stairs, Dolores is considered a prime suspect in her murder. Word of the affair reaches New York-based journalist Selena St. George (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Dolores's estranged daughter. Though she's about to leave on an important assignment, Selena instead flies to Maine to find out what's happened with her mother. Selena's father, Joe St. George (David Strathairn), died under mysterious circumstances 15 years before; more than a few people believe Dolores killed Joe, and many feel she did the same with Vera. Though the strong and tough-talking Dolores stands her ground, police detective John Mackey (Christopher Plummer) is convinced that there's more to her story than she's letting on, and in time Selena learns the ugly truth about her mother's connection to both deaths. This was Kathy Bates's second starring role in a film based on Stephen King's work; she earned an Academy Award for her breakthrough role in the movie version of King's Misery. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

75% liked it

29,024 ratings

Critics

82% liked it

34 critics

R, 2 hr. 11 min.

Directed by: Taylor Hackford

Release Date: March 24, 1995

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DVD Release Date: November 6, 2001

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Stats: 974 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (974)

  • blkbomb
    June 26, 2011
    blkbomb
    Constable: Going on a morning walk?
    Dolores Claiborne: No, I'm just packing the get-away boat, so I can make my great escape.

    Dolores Claiborne is a good drama from Stephen King that translates well to the screen. Kathy Bates gives a great performance as Dolores; a woman who i... read mores a suspect in a murder investigation. Jennifer Jason Leigh plays her daughter who has been gone for 15 years. A great supporting cast features Christopher Plummer, John C. Reilly, and Eric Bogosian(the guy from one of the most underrated films of all-time, Talk Radio). Danny Elfman gives the film a great score like always. It always makes me laugh when people complain about Stephen King books not being good movies. There's been Shawshank, The Green Mile, The Dead Zone, 1408, The Shining, Misery, Stand By Me, Carrie, Christine and Dolores Claiborne. Looks like they translate well.
  • ajv2688
    May 24, 2011
    ajv2688
    A shocking drama from King, about a mother and daughter and a secret. I was pleasantly surprised by this movie, and I think you will be too. I highly recommend it.
  • imrealgod
    April 6, 2011
    imrealgod
    This was far better than what I was expecting. (Even though I'm a Stephen King fan in general, this particular plot didn't seem too interesting to me.) There are a few turns and twists, most of which (if not all) are predictable, but the way they're unveiled is commendable. And t... read morehe stellar performance by almost every actor involved only made the movie more worthwhile.
  • theylovealexis
    December 20, 2010
    theylovealexis
    Not as good as Misery, but is any Kathy Bates move as good as that one? There's a lot of misery in this movie, everyone seems so unhappy. I wanted it to be more revenge-y, but it' wasn't and it got real, real fast. It's just okay.
  • Saxia
    November 29, 2010
    Saxia
    Personally I think Stephen King's more realistic story's are his best, including his book Dolores Claiborne.
    And Kathy Bates is perfect for the role as Dolores.
  • BEACHBUNNI
    November 14, 2010
    BEACHBUNNI
    The storys main attraction is Dolores herself,(Kathy Bates), a brazen, tough-talking housekeeper who finds herself suspected of killing her employer.This becomes an occasion for Dolores to examine her past for the benefit of a police investigator (Christopher Plummer), to salt ... read moreher story and to get reacquainted with her estranged daughter, Selena (Jennifer Jason Leigh). I thought it was a good movie with great acting from an excellent cast~!
  • stormyweather980
    January 6, 2010
    stormyweather980
    I'd heard so much about this movie all these years and said I'd give it a watch, and FINALLY did on New Year's 2010. I should've watched this about 14 years ago when it was all over tv! Kathy Bates is amazing and Jennifer Jason (hey, that's my name!) Leigh does well also. If I'd ... read moreknown this was a Stephen King movie, I'd have watched it ages ago....don't know why I never really read what it was about, cause that piqued my interest also. It's one of those films where you ultimately draw your own conclusion as to whether you think said person did the right thing and who was in the wrong and who was in the right, and I like that. Almost all Stephen King movies rock, and this is no exception! Oh, and I love how the characters keep reminiscing and seeing things that happened in the past, cause I spend alot of time doing that in real life myself.
  • ironclad1609
    September 26, 2009
    ironclad1609
    A rather untypical Stephen King story, although some of his regular motifs return was turned into one of the best adaptions of his books. Set in the grey, gloomy, yet beautiful images of the present, as a daughter returns home for her mother's murder trial as well as the colorful... read more, warm colors of the flashbacks, where we learn about their past and the fate of their husband and father, the story is carried by its strong characters and the great acting. Although the film consists mostly of conversations and moves rather slowly, it is still gripping and captivating in every moment, the solution and flashback showdown during the total eclipse of the sun even very exciting. A moving, very entertaining drama. Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman has to hold on to.
  • deano
    August 21, 2009
    deano
    This thoughtful Stephen King adaptation is drawn from another of the terror master's straight dramas and benefits from Kathy Bates's performance as a Maine housekeeper accused of murdering her employer and now reluctantly reunited with her estrangled daughter (Jennifer Jason Leig... read moreh). Bate's acting is so strong, deep, and subtle since Misery because the story and the character are more interesting, complex and challenging.
  • matertenebraum
    July 27, 2009
    matertenebraum
    If there is one thing I always fear, than it must be movies about bad marriages, an abusive husband, child abuse ... How often do you get a good movie with such subjects. Not very often, because most of the time these are awful TV-movies that seem to be written at a rate of at le... read moreast one an hour. Always following the same concept, always trying to make the poor viewer cry his eyes out while saying that that poor woman / child didn't deserve to be treated that bad. Now don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not saying that it should be tolerated. Men who do such awful things can't be punished hard enough, but the movies that are made about this subjects are complete crap most of the time.

    "Dolores Claiborne" tells the story of a woman who is accused of murdering the wealthy woman she worked for as a maid in Maine. When her daughter Selena finds out that her mother is accused of this crime, she immediately returns home from New York, leaving her job as an important reporter behind for a while. But she doesn't return to support her mother as you might expect. No, she's almost certain that she did it and she seems to try to get a good story out of it. But gradually she finds out what really happened and in the meantime some awful things about Selena's troubled childhood, the awful family life,... come floating at the surface again.

    I know that I said in the beginning of this review that most movies with such a subject are plain crap, but there are always expectations to every rule and "Dolores Claiborne" certainly is one of those exceptions. It was written by Stephen King and it shows. The man knows how to build up suspense and certainly can give you an uneasy feeling while reading his books or watching one of 'his' movies. And "Dolores Claiborne" has a lot more depth than you might expect at first. The only thing is that they have managed to disguise it, not giving away too much information at a time. Only at the end of the movie you'll fully understand what has happened and what the reason was for both women to react the way they did.

    What I also liked, next to the story, was the way everything is shot. All the scenes in the present are shot in those cool blue tones, but these blend seamlessly into the flashbacks that were shot in vivid colors. This gives an extra touch to the story that certainly works. You know exactly what is the present and what is the past, but those colors also add a lot to the drama.

    But the way a movie was shot alone doesn't make it good of course. That's what good actors who do some excellent things are for. And that's also exactly what you'll get from Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Christopher Plummer... Jennifer Jason Leigh is nice as the daughter, but it's Kathy Bates and Christopher Plummer who give away the best performances in my opinion. Bates is stunning as the tormented woman who's personality seems so strong, while in reality she is a broken soul who wishes for nothing much but to die as soon as possible, so all her misery can end. And I also loved Plummer as Detective John Mackey who's hate against Dolores is so big, because she is the only spot on an almost spotless career. He has solved all his cases except for one and he'll not rest until he can send Dolores to jail.

    All in all this is a very good and suspenseful movie that never tries to become a tearjerker, despite the heavy subject. It offers some great acting, nice photography and a good story

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Critic Reviews

Chris Laverty
September 5, 2010
Chris Laverty, Clothes on Film

A patient and mature thriller featuring a protagonist fascinating in her agony. Full Review

Pablo Villaca
December 26, 2005
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena

Denso e melancólico, o filme supera suas ocasionais falhas de roteiro graças às fortes atuações de seu elenco feminino (incluindo a jovem Ellen Muth).

Steve Crum
October 24, 2004
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan

Dreadfully depressing, but Kathy Bates stuns

Rich Cline
June 12, 2004
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

Gothic and creepy.

Nick Davis
August 17, 2003
Nick Davis, Nick's Flick Picks

The film boldly refuses to satisfy the horror fans who are its expected audience, but it's massively unclear what kind of audience it does have in mind.

Ken Hanke
April 24, 2003
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Effective character study thriller.

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
August 30, 2002
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

Speaks volumes about the subjugation of women and the hellish nightmare of living in a dysfunctional family. Full Review

Steve Rhodes
January 1, 2000
Steve Rhodes, Internet Reviews

A character study, which was very effective, and a mood piece, which was overdone. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
September 7, 2011
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Click to read the article Full Review

Brian Lowry
June 16, 2008
Brian Lowry, Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

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    • Vera Donovan: Husbands die every day. Why, there's probably one dying right now while you're sitting here weeping. They die, and leave their wives their money. I should know, shouldn't I? Sometimes they're driving home from their mistress's apartment, and their brakes suddenly fail. An accident, Dolores, can be an unhappy woman's best friend.
    • Vera Donovan: Sometimes, being a bitch is all a woman has to hold on to.
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Dolores Claiborne Trivia

  • In which 1995 movie based on a Stepehn King novel about a woman accused of murder does Kathy Bates play the title character?  Answer »
  • What movie did this quote come from? "Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman has to hold on to"  Answer »
  • An accident, Dolores, can be an unhappy woman's best friend...  Answer »
  • Who plays the lead role in the movie dolores Claiborne?  Answer »
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