Dolores Claiborne

Dolores Claiborne

Eighteen years ago, the abusive husband of Dolores Claiborne (Kathy Bates) died under mysterious circumstances. His death was ruled an accident despite the suspicions of police detective John Mackey. Now the elderly woman she has nursed for many years has also died--with Dolores found standing over her body with a rolling pin in her upraised hands--and this time she is accused of murder. Her estranged daughter (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who blames Dolores for her father's death, returns to confront her with her resentment. Are things as cut-and-dried as they seem, or is there more to the story? After years of living a lie, Dolores Claiborne has to finally face the truth with her daughter--or risk losing her for good. Weaving skillfully between past and present, director Taylor Hackford delivers a deceptively adept melodrama, based on a novel by Stephen King and illuminated by Kathy Bates's bravura performance.

Dolores Claiborne [VHS]

Dark secrets, family torments, and two murders swirl around the stoic, hardened figure of Dolores Claiborne (Kathy Bates), a housekeeper accused of murdering her employer of 22 years. Then there was that timely accident that took Dolores's husband (David

Dolores Claiborne (Widescreen)

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 novel. 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, All Movie Guide. Feature-length commentary by director Taylor Hackford, Interactive menus, Production notes, Scene access. Languages and Subtitles: English and French.