Stars: Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Strathairn, John C. Reilly, Eric Bogosian, Christopher Plummer, Judy Parfitt

Director: Taylor Hackford

Summary: A thriller based on Stephen King's bestseller in which a woman suffers at the hands of an over-zealous detective after she is seen standing over the dead body of her employer. The detective had failed to prove her guilt eighteen years earlier in the murder of her abusive husband.

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

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Dark secrets, family torments and two murders swirl around the stoic, hardened figure of Dolores Claiborne (Kathy Bates in one of her most magnetic screen performances), a housekeeper accused of murdering her employer of 22 years. Then there was that timely accident that took Dolores's husband (David Strathairn) during the solar eclipse of 1975. Yet with all the sombre suffering that follows Dolores like a miasma of pain, none of it compares with the heartache of a relationship she has with her grown daughter (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Although Dolores Claiborneis rife with horror, it is not of the supernatural kind, but rather of the torment only real people can impose on one another. The script, adapted from Stephen King's novel, successfully weaves several plot threads and psychological dilemmas throughout this engrossing tale without diminishing any of them. Director Taylor Hackford not only culls intense performances from his cast, but also brings to life the haunting, autumnal landscape around them. When the film's best-kept secret is finally given up, it occurs under the surreal backdrop of a solar eclipse: a truly sensational piece of cinematography that crowns a movie replete with indelible images and intense emotions. --Rochelle O'Gorman

On the DVD: In Dolores Claiborne, the autumnal landscape of Nova Scotia is as much a principal character as any of the actors. As a result, the film is crucially dependent on the subtleties of the cinematographer's sense of time and place. The superb clarity of the widescreen DVD transfer only enhances the movie's steely cool atmosphere. Director Taylor Hackford gives a detailed and illuminating commentary--elucidating the cast's performance and explaining the careful photography of every scene. Though the commentary is the only extra feature, it adds more real value than most two disc sets can manage. --Mark Walker

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Interactive Menus, Scene Access, Trailer, Commentary By Taylor Hackford
Subtitles:	Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish
Year:	1995
Release Date:	August 21, 2000
Runtime:	126 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	D0 C 2548
Label:	Castle Rock Entertainment
Keywords:	General, Thriller, Dolores, Claiborne
Genre:	Thriller