Jolene (2008)
Movie Info
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Cast
as Jolene
as Uncle Phil
as Brad Benton
as Marin Lerger
as Sal Fontaine
as MIckey
as Coco Lerger
as Cindy
as Aunt Kay
as Kendra
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Critic Reviews for Jolene
All Critics (21) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (11)
More epic than it needs to be and less profound than it should be, "Jolene" remains a watchable excursion into human frailty and foibles.
Chastain proves near-heroic embodying Jolene's innate strength and incremental wisdom. Yet she also makes us understand how the heroine's wobbly resistance to manipulative characters is overwhelmed time and again.
Jolene's main themes, including the manipulation of youth, the fragility of love, and the suppression of individuality, try to carry the wonky dialogue into complex territory.
So bad it's almost (but not quite) good, Dan Ireland's Jolene is an unusually elaborate and excruciatingly long vanity production...
Ms. Chastain digs deep. Surrendering to her character's smoky voice-over and disastrous judgment, the actress finds pockets of soul in a role that's part Jessica Rabbit, part Marilyn Monroe.
Audience Reviews for Jolene
A mercurial sexpot travels the country making bad decisions with the wrong men and occasionally ruining someone else's life for little discernible reason. Jolene's voice over, which is the epitome of lazy storytelling, paints herself as a victim throughout the film's contrived events, but I found little pitiable about Jolene despite the almost charming naivete with which Jessica Chastain plays the part. In the end, I wonder what the point of Jolene's story is. Is the message about male cruelty or the ruining of an innocent? It's hard to make this case, especially after Jolene's lesbian jaunt. Overall, I found myself confused about why I should care about this character or what the filmmakers wanted to say about her.
Super Reviewer
Decent movie. A very sad journey for a young girl to have to take. Definitely not a heartwarmer...
Super Reviewer
A bad situation only gets worse and eventually I ran out of interest i this one dimensional character.
Super Reviewer
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