Claire Dolan (1998)

The Worst Film Ever

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

As Claire Dolan, Katrin Cartlidge is neither stunning nor glamorized. She looks like a rather attractive but otherwise ordinary, thirtyish woman. The whole film is like that. Seeing it is less like watching a film than like watching the comings and goings in a Safeway. Cartlidge, a hooker, is tall, graceful, elegant even. She has thin lips and dark, staring eyes. Her features, her voice, her entire demeanor, is that of a firm algebra teacher, maybe covering up a psychosis. If she lost some weight it wouldn't take much to turn her into one of Moses Soyer's dark-eyed haunted wraiths.When the endoskeleton is revealed, the narrative looks more familiar. A lonely woman with no friends is desolate after her mother's death. She has no family to turn to. Her cousin in Newark is indifferent. She's exploited by all the men she meets except one, D'Onofrio. We've seen the D'Onofrio character before. He's the guy who succors her for a while and is in and out of her life. Sam Shepherd did it more obviously in "Frances." Cartlidge wants to have a child by D'Onofrio, build a home.But he's hesitant. We're not sure exactly why. Maybe it's because she's humped a thousand men before him. Maybe it's because when she orgasms there's no way of telling. Possibly it's because D'Onofrio can visualize what marriage to her would look like. She'd love him to death but she wouldn't make a good conversationalist, she has no wit, and she's demanding. He might spend the rest of his life driving a cab, hanging around, suffering from a bottomless boredom and watching her dote on the kid. If he thought about it, he might even wonder if he's been instrumentalized. After all, pregnancy may be one way to get out of the life.D'Onofrio himself is a beefy, gnarled presence with a high, gentle voice, but my God, he needs a shave an a haircut. He looks like a bum, but then living in Newark can do that to you. It certainly did for my old man. But D'Onofrio doesn't turn out to be very important anyway. After he impregnates her, he and Cartlidge say they love one another but she decides to cut herself off from her previous life and find a legitimate job in Seattle and she winds up glowing with happiness when she sees the fetus on ultrasound.The acting is okay, although it's all so low key that nobody gets to be very galvanic. Colm Meaney comes off best in some ways. All the characters are complex but his is the most difficult to unravel, not to mention that that pinched face is unforgettable. Other comments have ragged the director, Kerrigan, but he struck me as having done a fine job, even if a little artsy. He might do better if he lightened up a bit. After watching this, I had to bleed myself with leeches to relieve the depression.

It's a movie about the impossibility to be near to someone. It is also about the emptiness of (modern) life, the mechanical way sex has entered our world and the human deficiency. Claire is victim of a obviously broken family and a lonely mother (no one at the funeral except the daughter) and she (Claire) is likely to repeat this way of life. The last frame , alone, in a dark room softly singing for her fetus. (it's heartbreaking) Probably did she lend the money for her mother from a member of the soprano family. The sex with well to do "gentlemen" is depressing to see. It lingers in your mind. The taxi driver is a nice guy but has not the stamina to do the right thing en can't cope with what he suspects Claire is doing. Also a deficiency and he has to hire a call girl to understand. It is a pessimistic view the director made us aware of in his film. But what a masterly filmed movie. every still is right at the point en he shocks you, see the way the money collector disposes of the cat! And what a nice family man he is. It is all very depressing and very of our time and very very good indeed.

This is one of those independent films that has an ambiguous ending and I don't mind those types of endings as long as the story leading to it is interesting and rewarding (400 Blows) but this one just doesn't have the coherency. Very cold and dark look at an Irish prostitute who wants to get out of the business and have a child to change her life. The characters in this film are distant, jaded and have a "Business as usual" attitude. The late and great Katrin Cartlidge stars and she once again proves what a tragedy her death is at an early age. She had the potential for real greatness. This film does showcase her natural screen presence and how strong her personality is without saying a word or saying very little. I loved her in Mike Leighs "Career Girls" and thats a must viewing for all! But this film never really develops any real style or rhythm. Rather it shows this woman in an almost docu-drama style and the coldness of the characters is the style. Colm Meaney is her pimp and while at times it looks like he's ready to strike her, he never does. But he does strike her boyfriend Vincent D'Onofrio when he meets him for the first time. After that he speaks his peace and then its "Business as usual", which reminds us of what he really is. A businessman. When the film ends its Cartlidges presence that stays in our minds. The wrong actress would have made this film totally forgettable. Instead, Cartlidge made her character interesting to watch and the shortcomings come from the script. Cartlidge leaves another indelible impression.

beautifully shot but the dialogue was too spare almost david "mametian" the end result strong directorial hands (so interesting objectively) but ultimately not moving which i think it hoped to be. it's like he had an idea that would have worked well as a short and he stretched it out.