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.
2.
Selena St. George stares at the note and news clipping: her estranged mother Dolores has been accused of murder. Grudgingly, Selena returns to her tiny Maine Hometown to offer help. Not that she believes Dolores is innocent. In truth, she harbors suspicions going back 20 years.
3.
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 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 this flick is 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 is full of colourful language, and director Taylor Hackford successfully weaves several plot threads and psychological dilemmas throughout this engrossing tale without diminishing any of them. He not only culls intense performances from his cast, but he also brings to life the landscape around them. When Dolores Claiborne's best-kept secret is finally given up, it occurs under the surreal backdrop of a solar eclipse that is a truly sensational bit of cinematography. --Rochelle O'Gorman
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