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.

I'm an avid movie buff -- I love all types of movies (except action/slasher stuff). I'm pretty open-minded when it comes to films, whether they be foreign, Hollywood, or independent. However, I must say that Independent films (such as those shown on IFC and The Sundance Channel) are my favorite. In my opinion, Claire Dolan is the worst movie I've seen since Showgirls several years back. It has not one redeeming quality, the story line is dreary, and the acting is patently pathetic. Even Vincent D'Onofrio was laughable. I'm surprised that there are favorable comments about the movie....

This movie is unlike any other american movie I've seen in quite a long time now. It is good to know that there is still hope for the american cinema industry, that not everyone is interested in making horrible films only because they might be successful, because, honestly, I am tired of watching movies with weak scripts, horrible acting and incompetent direction. This movie proves that not everything is lost, specially because it was made by a young director, which means he can and, hopefully, will still surprise us with lots of wonderful films. "Claire Dolan" along with "Judy Berlin" are two of the best american movies of the new generation I've seen.

I've seen Claire Dolan in Paris in the theatre. It is a very brutal film, but also very powerful. I think that the director is talented, although the ending left me wanting a bit more. It's a very honest film about prostitution, and sometimes chillingly real. I was disturbed by the violence. It is very well done, with great, believable actors.