Jolene (2010)

Just perfect...

Great Film overall

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Although I don't think this movie was a total miss, it lacked depth in the plot and Jolene, the heroine who we were supposed to root for and adore was too naive to receive all of my sympathy. Jolene is a young and fiery (and unfortunately very naive) girl played by Jessica Chastain in her debut role. While I feel that Chastain made me like this character more, I felt like the character was not strong enough to be the lead in the movie. I never really understood what her motive was or what she was trying to attain - I don't think Jolene ever knew either. The story starts when she is 15, a time I feel like she was truly taken advantage of. In the beginning I did feel very sorry for her as her husband's uncle grabbed her by the waist and pinned her down on his bed. She had my sympathy because she was just a kid who was clearly confused as to what she was feeling. However, she then proceeds to make the exact same mistake over and over again. The movie is literally a depiction of her trusting sketchy men (or woman) that abuse her or treat her poorly and as she gets older I had to wonder how she hadn't learned her lesson by now. The plot for the movie is a good idea, however the execution is too simple. While I see the connection between Jolene's love of being an artist, and all her love interests molding her into their own art project, the way Jolene's different looks are portrayed just comes off as clichés. She starts off as Mickey's 15 year old bride with ribbons and braids in her hair, she then becomes the loony girl in the mental asylum who is again taken advantage of by an adult, upon escaping the mental asylum she becomes a road prostitute before becoming an edgy tattoo artist while working for her tattoo artist/drug dealer boyfriend, she then moves to Las Vegas and becomes a stripper while dating a mobster, she finally finds herself as a career woman, and then a high society woman who is abused by her manic and financially powerful husband. I didn't think there was enough flow from phase to phase, when each lover entered her life she would admit that she didn't feel confident in the decision to be with them but she just did it anyways. Despite the fact that she entered in to so many relationships prior under similar circumstances. Jolene finally has a child with her third husband and admits that "this was the first time I had something that I actually wanted", only to have her child taken away from her due to her checkered past. I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be sending a message that if you keep making the same mistakes over and over you will be condemned for it, or if this was supposed to just make it clear that things with her high society husband were not going to end well. Regardless, I felt it was the most emotional part of the movie and the part I felt the most sympathy for our heroine Jolene. This movie had a fair amount of nudity in it and I thought that took away from the movie, making it seem like a porno. There were a lot of scene where many naked women were shown (but mostly Chastain) and I didn't feel like it was needed. However, I thought it was a good idea in the scenes in which Chastain was being taken advantage of in her younger years. It really makes her feel exposed. The tone of the movie varies a lot throughout. I found it hard to label what kind of movie it was after watching it. It starts off as a steamy hick flick, but then takes a serious turn when Micey commits suicide, Uncle Phil is sentenced to time in prison for statutory rape, and Jolene is sent to a mental asylum where one of the patients slits her wrists with the glass of a mirror. When Jolene escapes the movie gets a little light and funny as a tattoo artist/drug dealer shows her the wild side of life and it is discovered he has another wife. This tone keeps as she moves to Las Vegas and becomes a stripper until her mobster boyfriend is shot. The last bit is a combination of funny and serious and honestly it just seemed like Jolene was taking herself too seriously as she gets asked on a date by the owner of the company she works at. He's an eccentric man who has so many red flags attached to him, it's no wonder Jolene decides to marry him without knowing anything about him or having him know anything about her past. Although in her defense it was entirely his idea to get married before getting to know each other - Jolene still can't say "no" to marrying this man, the crucial mistake she has been making for the rest of the movie. He ends up raping her, getting her pregnant, beating her, and then taking sole custody of the child. She ends up leaving with aspirations of becoming a movie star. And the audience ends up not convinced that Jolene will change her ways, even after her child is taken away from her.

*** SOME SPOILERS ***This is one of those films where you're not sure what the point is. The film is based on the E.L. Doctorow story "Jolene: A Life," published in The New Yorker. You can go to their site and read the synopsis without subscribing. Interestingly enough, the synopsis is almost exactly what happens in the movie.It is all about a naive young woman who goes through 10 years of mostly torment at the hands of numerous men. She doesn't change that much over that time, and is just as bad a judge of character at the end as she was at the beginning.So, why watch this? I don't know. It is competently made, with the cinematography and (then-newcomer) Jessica Chastain's excellent performance being the highlights. Admitedly, director Dan Ireland is very faithful to the story, so maybe the problem is with Doctorow. I am not willing to subscribe to The New Yorker to read beyond the synopsis, so I am going to have to guess that the story is where the problem is. The question then would be: Why make this in the first place? I really don't know.****** (6 Out of 10 Stars)

Jessica Chastain, as Jolene, blows me away in this heartfelt adventure-drama. Known for more recent roles in The Help (2011) and The Tree of Life (2011) the relatively new actress is making big waves in Hollywood. Jolene is a breakout film for her, in which she captures the leading role by a longshot(and also SIFF Best Female Actress), with supporting actors having no more than about ten minutes on screen each. In the film, Chastain plays a redheaded vixen(she's one in real life too) orphan. She marries at an early age and struggles with household tasks as a wife, but finds her niche in her artwork. There's something about her that is irresistible and her newly-wed's father begins an affair with her. One thing leads to another and Jolene is sent to a psychiatric ward with no known family to vouch for her or take care of her. She uses her artistic abilities to make an income painting portraits of her inmates. A lesbian love affair with one of the guards eventually breaks her free. Jolene sets off west in search of a new life. She continues to find comfort in art becoming a tattooer's apprentice in Phoenix followed by an exotic dancer in Las Vegas. Through the course of multiple lovers and many different career paths, Jolene takes us on a thrilling journey across the United States from the perspective of a very fetching young female orphan.Bottom line: If you don't think Jessica Chastain is attractive, don't watch Jolene.

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 power but destined powerlessness with piercing accuracy.