ranked #6 out of 11 movies	rated 4.08 out of 5	total 13 votes

Dolores Claiborne

If you wanna know what kind of life a person had, just look at their hands. (Dolores Claiborne)

Year: 1995
Director: Taylor Hackford
Screenplay: Tony Gilroy
Actors: Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judy Parfitt, David Strathairn, …
Runtime: 132 min


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Summary of Dolores Claiborne film plot

In 1963, during a total eclipse of the sun seen at the Little Tall Island off the shore of Maine, Dolores Claiborne’s abusive husband mysteriously fell into a well and died. Dolores was suspected to be involved in the death of her husband, but no charges were ever brought against her.

Thirty years later Dolores’ employer, the rich Vera Donovan, dies from a fall down the stairs. Dolores is again a murder suspect. The local Detective and her enstranged daughter who is a highly respected New York journalist try to find the truth.

Dolores who realizes that she has to explain things this time, reveals her dark secrets of the past. She tells a story about dark and horrible acts that had happend in the past. These acts are normally inexcusable. But are they so inexcusable after all?

Main differences between film and the Stephen King book - Dolores Claiborne

• The novel is told by Dolores in the first person perspective. Her daughter Selena appears only as a kid. In the film the grown-up Selena comes home to help her mother. Therefore they added the constant flashbacks-flashforwards to the movie.
• In the book Dolores rebels against her abusive husband for more than two years, while in the film the events leading to her husband’s death take place over the course of several months.
• The film focuses more on the relationship between Dolores and her daughter and much less on her relationship with Vera Donavan.

What TheDarkKing thinks about the Dolores Claiborne film

Dolores Claiborne is a moving, absorbing and dark non-supernatural drama that never tries to become a tearjerker, despite the heavy subject.

In Stephen King’s novel Dolores tells her story in one long monologue. In order to make a movie from this monologue, the screenplay writer Tony Gilroy introduces her grown-up daughter Selena and Detective John Mackey to whom Dolores tells her story. The story flashes back and forth over a period of 20 years, but the constant shifting from past to present is very well made and never confusing. All the scenes in the present are shot in cool blue-grey colors, the flashbacks are shot in golden vivid colors, which blend seamlessly into eachother and add a lot to the drama.

The movie focuses strongly on the relationship between Dolores and her daughter Selena and their shared past, whereas the book focuses much more on Dolores’ relationship with her stubborn boss Vera.

But although the movie isn’t absolutly faithful to the novel, it’s a dark masterpiece of its own. The place, the weather, the circumstances, is so depressive but also so beautiful. Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Leigh are brilliant performers as are the other co-actors.

Dolores Claibore is not a horror movie, there is no blood, no zombies, nothing supernatural (at least in the film), but still it’s horror. Horror because of the suffering people can inflict on each other, horror because you can’t understand why some fathers and husbands do such horrible things to their kids, to their wives. Dolores Claiborne is a thought-provoking film. Some call it murder, some self-defense… but there are always two sides of the same coin.

If you’re now interested in watching the movie or reading the book, click on the following link to buy the DVD “Dolores Claiborne” or the book “Dolores Claiborne” at amazon.com!