| Fantastic, fantastic movie that is difficult to explain. More movies like this should be made. Great acting and story. I say A (by cosmo_tiger) |
| When do you know for sure you are in love? After a failed marriage at a young age, Jolene Chastain deals with getting over the past and finding herself. She sets off on a journey across the country looking for what is missing in her life. This is a very, very good coming-of-age story, also kind of inspiring in a way, no matter what happens to her she never gets down and keeps pushing forward. On the other hand it is also pretty depressing to watch what this girl goes through. This movie does a great job of showing what a girl, who was raised as an orphan and spent her youth between the home <more> |
| Captures the disenfranchised power and yet powerlessness of an adult Foster "kid" (by alithiapa) |
| As a foster kid tossed from home-to-home throughout southern Louisiana only to land with hard-earned education in Boston working at Harvard Medical School and living in the penthouse of the Ritz, I can tell you that I identify with this movie. There is something luring about the disenfranchised vulnerable that makes beautiful for predators even well-intended predators with good intentions - mark. I am most curious to learn where and with whom the author did his research to accurately reflect the subtle, but violent truths of this character Jolene. He captures the dichotomy of her seeming <more> |
| Jolene is Supreme **** (by edwagreen) |
| This 2008 film brought us Jessica Chastain, last year's supporting actress nominee for "The Help" in a totally memorable performance as a girl who matures despite the horrific life experiences she endures.Scarlett O'Hara had 3 husbands and Jolene goes from situation to situation, with disastrous results each time. Still, by the end of the film, she is resolute in her attempt to make something of her self.Definitely the product of a bad environment, Jolene faces life as it seems to continuously slap her in the face. She goes from one bad circumstance to another with an <more> |
| Jolene shines at the Seattle Film Fest (by totalwonder) |
| Of all the films I saw at the 2008 Seattle International Film Fest, "Jolene" is the one that stayed with me. Jessica Chastain gives a multi layered, complex, superlative performance as the title character. A girl drifting through her life looking for love in all the wrong places. The film stays away from sentimental payoffs giving it a very distinctive tone. Are we suppose to sympathize with Jolene? Dan Ireland, the director, leaves that to us in another honest and wonderful tale of longing and hope. From Rene Zellwegger in "The Whole Wide World" to Joan Plowright in <more> |
| Queen Jolene (by wdebra5) |
| I saw Jolene at its world premier last night during the Seattle International Film Festival. The story is charming and the two plus hour film moves along without faltering. Newcomer Jessica Chastain is both beautiful and talented and portrays an ever-optimistic Jolene with the skill of a seasoned actor. The supporting cast includes well-known stars Frances Fisher, Chazz Palminteri, Dermot Mulroney, and Theresa Russell, but your eyes never leave Chastain.The director is Dan Ireland, co-founder of the Seattle International Film Festival, which is the largest of its kind in the U.S. <more> |
| A Star Is Born (by abelardo64) |
| Jessica Chastain gives one of those performances that make history in this wonderful Dan Ireland film based on a short story by Doctorow. She goes through a life of radical changes, so much so that it could be considered a multi character study if not for the amazing truth in Chastain's portrayal. The exteriors may change and circumstances may appear diametrically opposite but at its very center she's the same girl we met at the beginning, never ever betraying that spirit or that thirst for life. Like in Dan Ireland's "The Whole Wide World", that launched the career of <more> |
| Candy done right (by johno-21) |
| I recently saw this at the 2009 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Based on the novel Jolene: A Life by E.L Doctorow and directed by Dan Ireland this film takes through the experiences, marriages and loves of Jolene beginning at age 15 when she is a child bride after living in foster homes in a childhood of abuse and takes us through a series of abuse full and exploitive relationships. Lots of interesting characters that we meet briefly along the way including performances by such noted actors as Theresa Russell, Denise Richards, Rupert Friend and Chazz Palminteri. Jessica Chastain is <more> |
| Jessica Chastain carried this movie (by aironenick) |
| This movie is ok most of the way through, a little scattered storyline, not much versatility, and they took every opportunity to get her naked. Towards the end it really goes off the rails and jumps the shark at the sodomy scene. With all of that I would still recommend this movie simply on Jessica Chastain's performance. She was amazing in her debut and it shows that, with her huge success now, she has been an outstanding actress from her first movie. This movie is probably a 4 without her and I can't wait to see her in more and more movies in the future. |
| It was a song first, then a short story (by douglasrubin) |
| Most reviewers are taking this movie too literally. Of course the plot is ridiculous and the characters are simpleton and/or abusive stereotypes. The story is of the failed-fallen women genre but updated to the 1980's and it's full of too-recognizable motifs and characters. Enjoy it for the screen candy sour/sweet it is.Dolly Parton wrote a terrific catchy song, and E.L.Doctorow wrote a 3 1/2 page story that reads like a tightly-constructed fable . . . that there are multiple complications in the life of a young/maturing, sexy-beyond-her-maturity, girl/women. It is a fantastical <more> |