Rating: 
Summary: Did She or Didn't She?
Review: After her employer is found dead with Dolores still holding some very incriminating evidence, she is put back on the hotseat. Not only for the death of her employer, but also for the death of her husband years earlier for which she was acquitted. People in town, though, were never quite convinced of her innocence on that one, so Dolores must explain away both deaths somehow. This is an excellent adaptation of the Stephen King novel. The stars-Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason-Leigh, and Christopher Plummer are all first-rate. I also recommend the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre Novel, Marvelous Film
Review: Setting the tone for Stephen King's first-person narrative of murder and suspense, "Dolores Claiborne" begins with the title character's integrity becoming questionable as she holds a rolling pin high above her head at the foot of a banister, ready to strike. At her feet bloody and broken lies Vera Donovan, the mistress of the house and her employer of over 20 years. She is on the brink of death and holds Dolores' perturbed gaze, pleading with her as the neighborhood mailman walks in the house with a satchel full of envelopes and, along with the audience, makes the horrible assumption that Dolores has just committed a vile and immoral act. From this abrupt and climactic scene, a visual and psychological masterpiece blooms from the unique and aesthetic interpretation of a fledgling director, giving King's quirky but engaging yarn about a tough-as-nails New Englander an authentic and absorbing effervescence.When King began penning his tale of a hard-luck Maine woman with a dark past, his mind was on Kathy Bates, the actress who delivered a disconcerting representation of an obsessive fan in 1990's horror hit "Misery". Her volatile and freakish performance merited her an Oscar for Best Actress, gaining King's favor and securing another spotlight role for her in his next adaptation. She has proven herself to be a theatrical powerhouse once more as the austere and brazen Dolores, a woman whose sympathetic spirit has stiffened from enduring countless catastrophes in the course of her toilsome existence. Bates is a formidable talent but her fellow cast members are impressive notwithstanding. Jennifer Jason Leigh is straightforward and affecting as Selena, Dolores' estranged and embittered daughter. She plays the skeptical and begrudged bit effectively, adjoining savage and repressed emotion to match her lank and pallid appearance. Christopher Plummer as the dogged detective John Mackey is the perfect contrareity of courtly manner and gritty resolve, his refined forte as an actor a befitting blend to this generation's turnout of talented thespians. Last but not least, Judy Parfitt makes the icy and callous Vera Donovan believably sympathetic, bringing to light an understanding for her rigid nature as the audience becomes acquainted with every character and Dolores' established pasts with them. Vera may seem harsh, but she is nowhere in the bounds of being as despicable as Joe, Dolores' abusive and alcoholic husband. David Strathairn was surprisingly convincing as the contemptuous and simple-minded boozer, an insecure and self-destructive man who finds his comfort in his stature as a stone-hard wifebeater. Stephen King writes his characters well, absorbing either his reader or his viewer into their worlds, and there are powerful moments for each of them in this two-hour character study. Two moments that strike me the most are, first and foremost, a prolonged frame of the dilapidated house upon the island in the last winks of daylight as the evening consumes the earth. A thick and cloudy crimson sky swallows the dark and crumbling property that is singularly lit by an ominous, ghostly blue light on the porch. If one were to pause the film at this exact moment, they would feel as if they were looking at the eerie and mesmerizing cover art intended for this very novel. Another is the arresting moment when Selena recollects the enervating sexual abuse from her father while riding upon the local ferry. She envisions herself and Joe sitting upon a bench, Joe taking her numb hands and pulling them toward his lap. Her brow is furrowed and she is whimpering with pain and resistance as she casts her eyes down to the floor, fighting tears. When she looks back up, she fixes her gaze this time directly to the camera and her face smoothes to a neutral expression, blank and emotionless. You know at this moment there is a complete detachment, one she has unwillingly mastered throughout the years to cleverly disguise her burgeoning agony. Credit must also be given to Taylor Hackford for the ingeniously devised method of blending past and present with consistent and numerous flashbacks that take place throughout the film. The dull and grayish palettes are literally wiped over with full and vibrant technicolor memories that create a comprehensive separation between the past and the here and now. King has always been an incredible writer, but this is the first time that a film has ever surpassed the novel that birthed it. Leave it to Kathy Bates to steal the prize, but it is a welcome theft for the justice she gave to "Misery". "Dolores Claiborne" is a screenplay well orchestrated and brilliantly directed, the sparkling gem in the entire library of Stephen King films.
Rating:
Summary: Stellar Performance!
Review: Kathy Bates is likely the most exciting and certainly one of the most talented actresses working today. She continually appears in excellent films and always give a magnificent performance (that Adam Sandler fiaso aside). From Misery, Primary Colors, and even Titanic, to lesser known films like The Late Shift (incredible!) which she did for HBO, Kathy Bates consistently gives a performance which is both exciting and totally believable. While she does not fit the stereotypical definition of a Hollywood beauty, her ability to transform herself both physically and emotionally for each role is amazing. Dolores Claiborne is a great film, beautifully shot and wonderfully acted. Bates is magnificent, Jennifer Jason Leigh is convincing in her role as Dolores' daughter, and Christopher Plummer gives a subtle yet powerful performance as the police investigator who's one professional failure has been to convict Claiborne of the murder of her husband. The film is shot with great care. The scene near the end which takes place at the height of a solar eclipse is absolutely mesmerizing. The story moves along with a great pace, and keeps the interest of the viewer throughout. This is really an excellent film, and one that has unfortunately been overlooked by many people.
Rating:
Summary: Great Suspense movie!
Review: I love Kathy Bates. I feel she is underappreciated and an extraordinary actress in hollywood. I often wonder why actresses as good as Bates are not given enough roles while brainless, waifs littered the television screens. Anyway, dont get me started on politics of America. I feel this is a movie for any woman who has been abused or can relate to how women are viewed and treated in a male dominated society. It seems atleast in the movie that women finally get justice for once instead of being on the other end of the rope. If you like a great thriller then watch this. ALso if you like the movie misery then you will like this Stephen King adaptation.
Rating:
Summary: An undiscovered classic
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Dolores Claiborne is worth your time!
Review: This is one of those rare films where it really makes you think and that you were so glad you watched it. This movie is one of my top favorites and there is so much symbolism and the way it is filmed is beyond me. A perfect movie, nothing could of made it better and Kathy Bates is amazing in it. GET THIS MOVIE.
Rating:
Summary: Language, Language, Language
Review: This movie was a very good story but, why can't they leave out all the damn cussing. I mean it was a good story until they started cussing every few words.
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes a woman has to be a ...
Review: Kathy Bates played some wonderful roles in Stephen King movies like the Stand (small role) and Misery. But in Dolores Claiborne she has a hard time with Vera Donovan. You have to read the book to know what she has to endure. The movie is more concentrated on her own family and her daughter who comes back to help her mother when Vera dies under suspicous curcomstances. You see what led to this death through flash backs.The best scene of the movie is when Dolores cries and Vera tells her she cant help because all her money is in stocks etc.But when Dolores tells what has happened than Vera, for once turns her cold and icy heart into understanding for Dolores and gives her advice. Magnificent.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawless?
Review: I don't understand how people can actually say that this movie is superior to the book. The novel was infinitely better than this tripe they call a movie. The acting was sub-par. Kathy Bates, I hate to say it, but you cannot do accents. And for all of you yokels out there that beleive what you hear in movies, I have got news for you. I live twenty miles from the town that this story was set in, and no one, and I mean NO ONE from Maine sounds anything like the people in this movie, or any other movie set in Maine for that matter. I have never heard any sort of a New England accent done well in a film, or any medium. These actors have obviously never set foot in Downeast Maine or else they'd realize how stupid they sound, and the image that they give the residents of the area. I hate to tell you America, but we aren't all clam diggers, I have never in my life heard anyone say "Ayuh" and no one in Maine says "Banger." It's Bangor, and the only people who have ever said "Banger" are people from out of state who think that they're being clever. I am tired of Stephen King's condescending attitude toward all the people of Maine, and his inability to create characters in his novels that are from Maine and still interesting. All of his native characters are old people, who use phrases that people call charming "Mainerisms," most of which I have never heard in my life, and since most of his novels are set within thirty miles of my hometown, and I spend a lot of time working with older people, I would have heard these things by now. Finally, this movie was just one more stereo-type riddin peice of junk to throw onto the heap of Stephen-King based movies. Kathy Bates couldn't do a Maine accent to save her life, and her performance suffered so greatly that I almost felt bad for her. But not quite. Jennifer Jason Leigh was like watching a board in a power-suit, and I cannot stress the fact that this was, plain and simple, a BAD MOVIE, and it would have been no matter where it was set because the acting was pathetic, and most of the time King novels don't transfer well to the big screen.
Rating:
Summary: One of King's best films
Review: This film is one of the better thrillers I have seen of the 90's. Kathy Bates plays Dolores Claiborne with her daughter playing Jennifer Jason Leigh. When Dolores is accused of another murder, the detective (Christopher Plummer) is hellbent of proving that Dolores is indeed guilty this time. We get an insight into Dolores's past as her drunken, foul-mouthed husband belittles her and hits her. Too upset with all this Dolores plans a murder that looks to be accidental. An excellent plot with conflicting emotions between mother and daughter
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