Jolene (Blu-Ray)

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 and foster parents, acts like. Though it's not her first movie the woman who plays Jolene (Jessica Chastain) is fantastic in this. It's not an easy role, especially with as much sex and nudity involved (nothing gratuitous, it actually helps define the character), along with the ranges of emotion she must portray. I'm really surprised she didn't get any recognition for this. I don't want to give too much away, but I really, really enjoyed this movie. I give it an A.

Would I watch it again? - I did already.

Judging from the large volume of films Jessica Chastain has coming out in the next two years, people will inevitably want to see her early work (and in this case the film that she explodes into the movie making world with - as I had really only seen her in Stolen [Blu-ray] before). After watching the lengthy interview included on this BD and being mesmerized by her screen presence throughout this beautiful film, she is proving herself as one of the most natural and articulate ladies in the industry.

The story follows a young lady through ten years in her difficult teen and early adult life, traveling from state to state as she looks for love, expressing her amazing artistic skills, and a better life than what keeps getting thrown her way. The supporting performances around her are believable and professionally played, but Jessica was beyond captivating and managed to convey a heartfelt and solid lead performance that carried the title character perfectly.

The BD quality is clear throughout with no real falterings. Her fair skin never appears to bleed into the frame, and even in the Arizona scenes the contrasts are subtle yet still vibrant. The DTS is competently mixed and the special features include:

* Bloopers, 3:33 minutes. Not funny and could have easily been excluded and the quality is below lodef.
* Interview with Dan Ireland & Jessica Chastain, 20:54 minutes. A sit-down interview with the two of them talking film and career. The film was made four years prior to this talk and she has definitely come into her own. Worth the watch if you become a fan of hers (a dry setting in a room).
* Interview with Theresa Russel, 3:00 minutes. Only talks about her character (library setting - dull), skipper.
* Interview with Dermot Mulroney, 4:21 minutes. Funny and informative about indy film making (outdoor panoramic forest setting - beautiful).
* Interview with Michael Vartan, 6:04 minutes. Having watched his whole set here one should be a huge fan of his to sit through it.
* Director commentary, scene specific. He obviously loves this project and dearly loves his star, and I suppose fans of his The Whole Wide World and Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont will like some of the insights he gives about making those films also.

No region coding listed, English language and subtitles only. Four stars for the film and one more for the BD specs and supplements. A worthy owner but at least worth a rental watch to say you saw where it all really started for her...nicely done.

I have very mixed but intense feelings about "Jolene." On the one hand, it features a magnetic lead performance by Jessica Chastain. I've never seen her before, so I can't say for sure whether she's a fantastic actor or just one of those people who outshine everyone around them (I suspect both), but either way, I'll see anything else that she's in. But the film itself, which cruises along for 3/4 of the way with a fairly light tone (considering the subject matter), takes a very unpleasant turn towards the end that left me feeling duped. I don't have a problem with movies that are dark or depressing, but there has to be an authenticity to it. This one seemed senselessly cruel, not in the way life can be, but in a way that sets the viewer up for one experience and then swaps in a horrifying, unjustified alternative. The heroine makes a decision that seems to makes no sense and completely invalidates everything she has gone through to that point, leading to terrible consequences. I haven't read the Doctorow story it's based on, but if it provides an explanation for this decision, it gets lost in translation (some vague voice-over rationalization is attempted but fails to convince). I'm left with a very bitter taste that diminishes the enjoyment I had experienced up until that point.

Even so, this film is worth watching for Chastain's performance. She's going to be huge.