Jolene

Jolene_360P

source: Jolene

Were do I begin? With the constant comatose look on the lead actress face? Or the lack of story and character development. Over all this movie was so boring,that even the actors looks bored during all the sex scenes. I mean I get that Jolene is suppose to look bored.Since she's suppose to be emotionally crippled,and get taken advantage off,but the male actors look bored too. Not to mention the cast don't seem to care about delivering any of their lines with some feeling. What ever they got paid to do this movie it's either too much or too little. I like Dermot Mulroney in some of his earlier films,Like Where The Day Takes You,There Goes My Baby ,and Young Guns. But this,this is utterly crap.They even have Theresa Russel,and Denise Richards in it.They both scream washed out actresses

"Jolene" is, in spite of a lot of previous comments, better than average. Jessica Chastain, playing the eponymous character is outstanding. Yes, her journey is repetitive in a way, and she never seems to learn from her experiences and continues to make terrible decisions in her life. I tend to assume that this is the point of the story. Every other part in the movie is somewhat small, as Jolene moves on and never goes back. But good work is done here by, among others, Frances Fisher, Theresa Russell, Denise Richards, and Shannon Whirry. Rupert Friend and Dermot Mulroney's characters were creepy in the extreme, which probably makes it more fun to play them. There are no likable characters in this film, including Jolene, and this is probably what turns off so many reviewers.

I just saw the movie.. It's 2017. 9 years after it was made. What is the point of this Movie? Is it to show people how terrible life can be? Or what? And what kind of wrong information has been provided ..? Like the system is against her. She's like this idiot woman who never learns.. It's thoroughly annoying with such unnecessary disgusting sex scenes and nudity! There's no taste at all. The only thing good about it was Chastain 's acting.

This was one of those movies where it doesn't really matter if the story sucks or if the film itself was poorly made. I could care less about any of that stuff because watching Jessica Chastain on screen is just delightful in its own way. The story was alright, although I'm not sure there was an actual story here. All I gathered from the so called plot was that this woman (Jolene) didn't know what to do with herself and just kinda wandered & winged it through life on a daily basis. This movie should have been the female version of "The Truman Show" where the audience can just follow around a clueless human being for no particular reason. This is a wannabe reality show disguised as a feature film and the only thing missing is SNOOKI and that's all there is too it....

Jessica Chastain, as Jolene, a pale, freckled girl with wild red hair, is only fifteen when the story begins in South Carolina. She's been abandoned by her parents and has grown up as a ward of the state. She's an appealing, impulsive, sexy girl with a casual sense of stoicism. Let's see. She drives her first boyfriend to suicide. Her second beau is a bigamist pretending to be much younger than he is. He goes to prison for statutory rape. Chastain is sent to a correction facility where one of the staff, Frances Fisher, falls in love with her. They get it on together in private and Chastain doesn't mind a bit being loved by a woman. You get used to it. Fisher endangered her own career by smuggling Chastain out of the Home For Wayward Girls and hides her in her own home, warning her not to leave the house for any reason "until this blows over." A quickly bored Chastain leaves anyway and hitch hikes to Arizona, servicing a couple of truck drivers along the way. I'll make the rest of it quickly. Chastain is courted by a failed guitar player and rock singer who now runs a tattoo parlor. He marries her, but he turns out to be already married and is also a drug dealer. She hitches to Las Vegas, where she is spotted pole dancing by Mr. Big, Chazz Palmintieri. She lives with him in a penthouse overlooking Las Vegas until Palmintieri dies a natural death from bullets. Next, ho hum, she hitches to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she is spotted as a waitress and courted by a very odd-mannered man whose family "owns half of Tulsa." The diamond in her engagement ring is the size of the Rock of Gibraltar. She marries him and has his baby, but he's a rude, religious fanatic and beats her. The wicked family kicks her out and takes the baby. Last scene: Now all glamorized and un-hicked by make up and a sense of comme il faut, she wanders the streets of Hollywood, hoping to become a famous movie star, go back to Tulsa, and reclaim her baby. The performances are okay. Nobody torpedoes this movie. And Chastain is quite good in the central role, as is Palmintieri, who finally gets a chance to project genuine sincerity. There are a couple of stereotypical figures but their appearances are brief. It's nicely photographed and directed, and the script gets the job done, but at heart it's the story of a woman abused in every way by men and by the system that's supposed to provide shelter from them. The men are all cads or crooks, and the system works for the wealthy. And the climactic scenes with Chastain's son, when she is declared an unfit mother because of her "checkered past". My God, do we have to go through that again? What is this, Lifetime Movie Network? Why not change the title from "Jolene" to "Please Don't Take My Baby!" Well, the first half of the movie, the part shot in South Carolina, isn't bad at all, a tangled web of American values. And the weaknesses of the men are somewhat counterbalanced by the fact that Jolene herself isn't really a very admirable figure. She starts out dumb and naive, humping rednecks in pick up trucks and whatnot. But every time she meets a new suitor, none of whom she loves, and moves in with him, it's another step up the ladder of wealth and status. "The money doesn't matter," but she keeps getting richer and richer because she's beautiful and willingly shares beds. We've seen much of this before. Other versions are usually shot inexpensively in Canada, starring nobody you ever heard of, but they're all supported by the same familiar, sagging spine. And at the end, the protagonist walks bravely alone, smiling, optimistic. She still has her dreams. It's by no means an offensive movie. It's a little reminiscent of "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore", the far superior "Wanda," and a number of other stories of women on their own. But it is repetitious, and finally boring, in its formulaic way.

I don't see what the point of this film was or understand how it was so highly rated or acclaimed. It was at terrible movie with a young girl who was terribly misguided, repeatedly degraded and exploited throughout her entire life. Despite any better judgment, she never learns, never overcomes, and ends with her smiling as she thinks of some delusional fantasy that, based on the story, will never happen. It's clear this was written and directed by men because it's all exploitation, violence against women, and gratuitous nudity. The only reason I watched this is because I recognized some actors' names but wow, so disappointed I wasted the time to watch this.

Saw "Jolene" today. It's been a long time since I've seen an independent film that was this poorly written. Sorry. Should have at least contracted someone with some screen writing experience to make up for the lack of plot and character development. Don't fret, there are various courses and workshops available at community colleges and various learning institutions that offer assistance in writing screenplays, along with various application software i.e. http://www.moviedraft.com/? gclid=CPXDw7PF6K8CFUHDtgodfjb43A. Not a Fan Rick

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.