Review of Dolores Claiborne (1995) by Stuart K — 23 Apr 2012

Based upon Stephen King's 1992 novel, which was a best seller that year, and brought to the screen by the reliable Taylor Hackford (An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) and Ray (2004)), this is a chilling psychological drama that has shows a decent into madness and Hitchcockian trickery from clever shots right down to Danny Elfman's score.

Set in a remote part of Maine, it begins when Dolores Claiborne (Kathy Bates) seemingly murders her ill, elderly employer Vera Donovan (Judy Parfitt), and local Detective John Mackey (Christopher Plummer) thinks he can get a case against Dolores.

As it transpires, 20 years prior, Dolores' husband Joe St. George (David Strathairn), who was drunken and abusive, seemingly died falling down a well, but the circumstances of his death are open to questioning.

Mackey worked on the case back then, and he knew something was up. Now, with Donovan dead, Dolores' estranged daughter Selina (Jennifer Jason Leigh) comes back to town to support her mother, as everyone in town believes she murdered her husband and Donovan.

But, Selina finds out that nothing is really what it seems. It's a twisting-turning thriller that has Bates giving a strong-willed performance with clever dialogue, with Leigh playing well against her, it's just the ending that seems a bit of an anti-climax, even if it follows the book faithfully, it's a King book which has a touch of Different Seasons about it, but it's worth it for Bates.