MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 128 this week

Dolores Claiborne (1995)

R  |   |  Crime, Drama, Mystery  |  24 March 1995 (USA)
7.4
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.4/10 from 26,785 users   Metascore: 62/100
Reviews: 163 user | 52 critic | 19 from Metacritic.com

A big-city reporter travels to the small town where her mother has been arrested for the murder of an elderly woman that she works for as a maid.

Director:

Writers:

(book), (screenplay)
Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

Watch Now

From $2.00 on Amazon Video

ON DISC

Celebrate IMDb's 25th Anniversary with Photos We Love

IMDb turns 25 on October 17! To celebrate, we put together a gallery of some of our favorite movie, TV, and event photos from the last 25 years.

See the Photos We Love

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 25 titles
created 04 Apr 2011
 
a list of 28 titles
created 17 Jun 2012
 
a list of 42 titles
created 03 Aug 2012
 
a list of 48 titles
created 02 Aug 2014
 
a list of 47 titles
created 11 months ago
 

Related Items

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Dolores Claiborne (1995)

Dolores Claiborne (1995) on IMDb 7.4/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Dolores Claiborne.

User Polls

1 win & 8 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Misery (1990)
Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

Few days after being rescued and sheltered from a car crash caused by a blizzard by a nurse who claims to be his number one fan, a well-known author begins suspecting the mental health of his savior.

Director: Rob Reiner
Stars: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth
Apt Pupil (1998)
Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

A boy blackmails his neighbour after suspecting him to be a Nazi war criminal.

Director: Bryan Singer
Stars: Ian McKellen, Brad Renfro, Joshua Jackson
Crime | Drama | Fantasy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

A mysterious new shop opens in a small town which always seems to stock the deepest desires of each shopper, with a price far heavier than expected.

Director: Fraser Clarke Heston
Stars: Max von Sydow, Ed Harris, Bonnie Bedelia
Drama | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

A widowed mother and her son change when a mysterious stranger enters their lives.

Director: Scott Hicks
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Anton Yelchin, Hope Davis
The Dark Half (1993)
Horror | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.9/10 X  

A writer's fictional alter-ego wants to take over his life...at any price.

Director: George A. Romero
Stars: Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker
Cujo (1983)
Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6/10 X  

A friendly St. Bernard named "Cujo" contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a small American town.

Director: Lewis Teague
Stars: Dee Wallace, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Danny Pintauro
The Stand (TV Mini-Series 1994)
Adventure | Drama | Fantasy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

After a deadly plague kills most of the world's population, the remaining survivors split into two groups - one led by a benevolent elder and the other by a maleficent being - to face each other in a final battle between good and evil.

Stars: Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Jamey Sheridan
Christine (1983)
Action | Drama | Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

A nerdish boy buys a strange car with an evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it.

Director: John Carpenter
Stars: Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul
It (TV Mini-Series 1990)
Drama | Horror | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

In 1960, seven outcast kids known as "The Loser Club" fight an evil demon who poses as a child-killing clown. 30 years later, they are called back to fight the same clown again.

Stars: Richard Thomas, Tim Reid, Annette O'Toole
Pet Sematary (1989)
Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

Behind a young family's home in Maine is a terrible secret that holds the power of life after death. When tragedy strikes, the threat of that power soon becomes undeniable.

Director: Mary Lambert
Stars: Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby, Fred Gwynne
Carrie (1976)
Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

Carrie White is shy and outcast 17-year old girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, and unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates for the last time at her senior prom.

Director: Brian De Palma
Stars: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving
Storm of the Century (TV Mini-Series 1999)
Drama | Fantasy | Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

A small village off the mainland is about to receive a huge winter storm. It won't be just another storm for them. A strange visitor named Andre Linoge comes to the small village and gives ... See full summary »

Stars: Becky Ann Baker, Kathleen Chalfant, Adam Zolotin
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Roy Cooper ...
...
...
Weldon Allen ...
Bartender
Tom Gallant ...
Kelly Burnett ...
Edit

Storyline

Dolores Claiborne works as a maid for a wealthy woman in remote Maine. When she is indicted for the elderly woman's murder, Dolores' daughter Selena returns from New York, where she has become a big-shot reporter. In the course of working out the details of what has happened, as well as some shady questions from the past and Selina's troubled childhood, many difficult truths are revealed about their family's domestic strife. This is cleverly portrayed with present reality shot in cool blue tones blending seamlessly into flashbacks shot in vivid color. As small town justice relentlessly grinds forward, surprises lie in store for the viewers.... Written by Tad Dibbern <DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

Sometimes, an accident can be an unhappy woman's best friend See more »


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and domestic abuse | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

24 March 1995 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Dolores  »

Box Office

Gross:

$24,361,867 (USA)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

|

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

In preparation for her role, Ellen Muth wrote in a journal as her character in the movie for weeks before shooting the film. See more »

Goofs

When hair samples are taken for analysis, they are pulled with the root intact, however, several are taken from different parts of the head/body. See more »

Quotes

Vera Donovan: [Dolores is crying in front of Vera in the drawing room] I insist that all women who have hysterics in my drawing room call me by my Christian name.
See more »

Connections

Referenced in The Ring (2002) See more »

Soundtracks

Happy Days Are Here Again
Written by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Quite amazing and scary
23 October 2004 | by (Vancouver) – See all my reviews

When I picked up the DVD of Dolores Claiborne, I wasn't sure of what to expect. I remembered that a lot of people were complaining that this wasn't Misery, starring Kathy Bates, who stars here, and the pacing was a bit off. However, when I was watching it, I was fully gripped into it's very gripping storyline of "Did she or didn't she?" and Kathy Bates pulls off another stunning performance (she never dissapoints me). All the other actresses, from Jennifer Jason Leigh, Christopher Plummer, to a then unknown John C. Reilly, also put out great performances. The direction of Taylor Hackford is top notch, and probably the biggest thing here is the cinematogrpahy, which is stunning with all the period photography (dull and grey at present, colorful in the past) and the eclipse photography is nothing short of stunning. A very surprising and entertaining watch,


34 of 40 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
DOLORES CLAIBORNE VS. MISERY !! elsapc
How the Oscars should have looked in 1995. mitch_rh
To Florida2 and those who agreed with him genco-5
Didn´t Kathy Bates deserve an oscar? Grisling
From a man's point of view. dedpug
Disturbing, but well done. Whats up with that line.....? Kman13
Discuss Dolores Claiborne (1995) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?