Film Review: DOLORES CLAIBORNE (1995)

Director: Taylor Hackford
Novel by: Stephen King
Running time: 132 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18

Genre: Drama/Mystery/Thriller
UK Release date: 8^th September 1995

Watched on Sky+ Monday 25^th July 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

As some of you may know, I am a fan of the work of Stephen King and as such I’m interested in film adaptations of his work. Unfortunately, many of them are quite bad, fortunately this isn’t one of those. I hadn’t got round to reading the book before seeing this, but I don’t think that affected my enjoyment of it. King invents such great characters and this is a case in point, some really well rounded characters and a mystery thriller to boot! Who couldn’t ask for more? Here’s a brief summary before I give you my take on it.

We begin with the death of Vera Donovan, a rich old lady who lived alone with her carer, Dolores Claiborne. We find Vera at the bottom of the stairs with Dolores standing beside her, arms raised with a heavy rolling pin in her hands. She expires before Dolores uses it, but on that evidence, it doesn’t look good for her. In New York, Dolores has a daughter, Selena, a journalist, who is faxed a copy of a local news report about the case. She arrives in the small town on an island off the coast of Maine to find her mother at the police station. Detective John Mackey, who is running the investigation is keeping here there because the house she was living in, Vera’s, is now a crime scene. Dolores decides to stay in her own house, the one she had shared with her abusive husband, Joe St. George and Selena, before he died many years before. Detective Mackey had investigated that death too, and had been suspicious that Dolores was responsible, but couldn’t prove it. There is a lot of tension between Dolores and Selena, both have secrets. Secrets that are about to be revealed… I’ll leave it there so them Spoiler Police don’t try to throw me down a well or something.

This is a very well made film that obviously had a decent budget. The sets and locations match the mood perfectly. I admit I was a little disappointed at how dull it all looked at first, but I soon realised that all of the flashback scenes, and there’s quite a few of those, are all in vivid colour. As far as performances go, well I can’t fault Kathy Bates as Dolores Claiborne, she hardly put a foot wrong, a masterful performance! Jennifer Jason Leigh also put in a good turn as Selena St. George, as did Judy Parfitt as Vera Donovan. I should also mention Christopher Plummer as Detective John Mackey and David Strathairn as Joe St. George, both also put in fine performances. John C. Reilly had a minor role as Const. Frank Stamshaw and finally a special mention for Ellen Muth, who did an excellent job as Young Selena in some of the flashback scenes.

I really enjoyed this film with its intriguing characters and a plot that always keeps you guessing. It has quite a slow pace and is quite melodramatic, but I didn’t mind that particularly, I was more interested in the characters and the plot. If I have one criticism, it is that it is a little too long and, because of this, it does seem to drag on a bit towards the end. Over all though, a film I very much enjoyed and one I can recommend to you.

My Score: 8.4/10

IMDb Score: 7.3/10 (14,832 votes when this review was written).
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85/100 (33 reviews counted when this review was written).

LINKS:
Trailer:

Film Review: MISERY (1990)

Director: Rob Reiner
Running time: 107 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18

Genre: Drama/Thriller
UK Release date: 10th May 1991

Watched on Sky+ Monday 2nd May 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I have been a fan of the works of Stephen King for many years now but, sadly, they seldom translate well to the big screen. This is a rare exception and one I have seen several times before. It is best known for the stand-out performance from Kathy Bates, for which she won the Best Actress Oscar in 1991, and deservedly so (IMO). A very tense thriller, it grabs your attention and leads you down a dark path into the twisted mind of Annie Wilkes.

Paul Sheldon is a writer, he has been writing a very successful series of romance novels featuring the heroine Misery. He now wants to write something new and has gone to Colorado to find some isolation so he can finish off his new book. On his way back he is involved in a car crash and is rescued by nurse, Annie Wilkes. It turns out that Annie is also his number one fan. After a few days, Paul’s agent, Marcia Sindell contacts the local Sheriff, Buster, and he starts looking for him. Annie looks after Paul, who was quite badly injured in the crash, she is allowed to read his new book, but doesn’t like it since Misery isn’t in it. Fortunately the new Misery novel has just been published, but when she reads it, things take a nasty turn for Paul. He has killed off Misery and Annie really doesn’t like the idea of that one bit.

It’s a pretty well made film with the action switching between Paul and Annie and Sheriff Buster’s investigation. Great perfromances all round; I’ve already mentioned Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes, she was tremendous. James Caan did a pretty good job as Paul Sheldon too, as did Richard Farnsworth as Buster and Frances Sternhagen as his wife Virginia. I must also give a special mention to Lauren Bacall as Marcia Sindell, she’s not on screen for long, but she still has such great presence.

This is one of those films I could happily watch at least once a year. I love Kathy Bates in this role, she slowly becomes more and more psychotic as the film progresses, it’s great to watch! James Caan does a good job too, trying to win her trust so he can make an escape attempt. It’s not perfect though, it does get a little baggy in the middle and, I thought, a little too long, but it’s still perfectly watchable. Over all… Recommended.

My Score: 7.7/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0100157/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/misery/
Trailer:

Film Review: THE BLIND SIDE (2009)

Co-Writer/Director: John Lee Hancock
Running Time: 129 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12

Genre: Drama/Biography/Sport
UK Release Date: 26th March 2010

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 9th April 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This film was nominated for the best picture Oscar in 2010, it didn’t win, but Sandra Bullock did pick up the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. Given all this recognition I decided I’d better see what all the fuss was about. I have to say that, as a  Brit, I and don’t really follow any American sports which it made it a little hard to follow in places, but I expected that. I’ve seen the Super Bowl on TV and have seen films such as ‘Any Given Sunday’ which have given me a bit of an insight into the game and the attention it gets over there. Having said that, the film isn’t all about American Football, it’s more about relationships and how helping out a fellow human being can bring something good. Oh, and it’s based on a true story. Here’s a brief summary before I give you my thoughts (summary haters, and those that don’t wish to know about the plot, please block that guy trying to sneak around the sideline while I write the next paragraph).

Michael ‘Big Mike’ Oher has had it rough all his life, his mother is a crack addict, his father has disappeared, but he has one thing in his favour, he’s big… really big. More by luck than design, he gets enrolled into a predominantly white Christian school. His teachers don’t really hold out much hope for him since he seems disinterested in classes, but one teacher, Mrs. Boswell, discovers he is maybe not as dumb as they first thought. He is befriended by young S.J. Tuohy, the son of Leigh Ann and Sean Tuohy. Recognising that Michael has nobody to look after him, the very driven Leigh Ann decides to take him in. Eventually his grades improve and he is allowed to play sports. He is, not surprisingly chosen for the Football team. After a stuttering start, and a bit of coaching from Leigh Ann and S.J., he finally gets the hang of the game and from here, as they say, the rest is history. I’ll leave my summary here so as not to infringe those NFL Spoiler Police.

This is a very heart-warming film that will appeal to the North American audience more than most of the rest of the world. I found it to be very well made with a few good performances. As far as that goes, I thought Sandra Bullock was good as Leigh Ann Tuohy, but Oscar worthy? I’ll let you decide. Tim McGraw did a fair job as Sean Tuohy and I thought Quinton Aaron played the understated Michael Oher very well. Jae Head reminded me a little of a young Macaulay Culkin as S.J. Tuohy and Lily Collins was ok as Collins Tuohy (the daughter). Honourable mentions go to Ray McKinnon as Coach Burt Cotton, Kim Dickens as Mrs. Boswell and there was a nice cameo from Kathy Bates as Miss Sue.

So we have a very rich family taking in a young black boy who happens to be an athlete. The cynical among us would instantly put this back on the shelf and leave it there, but I found it surprisingly better than I first thought it would be. Mainly due to the understated performance of Quinton Aaron, his performance really made the story work (for me). Contrast that with the outgoing and boisterous S.J. and it’s a combination that really works. The scenes where this pair is on screen really stand out. Over all, I found it a little too long and a little too schmaltzy for my taste, but worth one viewing… Recommended, for the one viewing only… then you can move on.

My Score: 6.4/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0878804/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1212694-blind_side/
Official Site: http://www.theblindsidemovie.com/dvd/index.html
Trailer: