[KING'S CORNER] Dolan's Cadillac (2009)
- Joseph
- 18 hours ago
- 5 min read
Dolan's Cadillac - King's Corner Review
Welcome to King's Corner. A recurring series of reviews based on the film and TV adaptations of Stephen King's novels and collections, reviewed and released in order of the original source material publishing date.
Director: Jeff Beesley
Starring: Christian Slater, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Wes Bentley, Greg Bryk, Al Sapienza
Written by: Richard Dooling
Produced by: Rhonda Baker, Alain Gagnon, Stephen Onda
Cinematography by: Gerald Packer
Original Score by: James Mark Stewart
Synopsis:
A young man attempts to seek to avenge his wife's death after she is murdered by a Las Vegas mobster.
Thoughts:
The spectre of Edgar Allen Poe has always loomed large over the work of Stephen King. Amidst his vast bibliography, the influence of the master of the macabre is there for all to see. Whilst King has described Poe’s influence as being tangential in how the authors he loved (like Robert Block and Ray Bradbury) drew inspiration from Poe, he sees him more like a twisted grandfather when it comes to the hold he has on his writing. The ghosts of The Overlook in 'The Shining' evoke memories of 'The Masque of the Red Death' and his short story, 'The Old Dude's Ticker' is his take on 'The Tell Tale Heart'. Another story influenced by 'The Cask of Amontillado' is his novella, 'Dolan’s Cadillac'.
The novella was first published in monthly instalments from February to June 1985 in Stephen King’s official newsletter, 'Castle Rock' before being released as a part of his short story collection, 'Nightmares and Dreamscapes' in 1993. It is about a Las Vegas schoolteacher by the name of Robinson who plans to get revenge on a local crime boss who murdered his wife, by slowly burying him alive in his Cadillac. On his official website, King said that the inspiration for the story came to him while stuck in traffic behind a Cadillac while some roadworks were taking place. He looked over to a huge cylinder pipe that was being laid and thought that even the Cadillac in front of him could fit in it. He goes on to say, “A moment later I had the idea of "Dolan's Cadillac" firmly in place, fully developed, and none of the narrative elements ever changed so much as an iota.”
The story's journey to the big screen is one that has many twists and turns but the earliest attempts to adapt it date back to February 2001. Back then director Stacy Title was trying to make the film with Kevin Bacon playing Robinson and Sylvester Stallone playing Dolan but it stalled and remained in development for three years. In 2004 Freddie Prinze Jr. had mentioned that he had signed on to play Robinson in the film with Gabriel Byrne lined up to play Dolan but again this didn’t go any further and the following year the rights reverted back to King. It wasn’t until 2008 that development ramped up again as Wes Bentley and Christian Slater made deals to star in the film with Erik Canuel directing the film. A month prior to production he was replaced by Jeff Beesley. It never received a theatrical run and was released straight to DVD in 2010.
The source material is very psychological as it delves into the all consuming nature of revenge as Robinson (Wes Bentley) plots Dolan’s (Christian Slater) demise in an elaborate manner with the ghost of his dead wife haunting him. Here we get that version stretched to its limits but instead of being an introspective film it hones in on plot beats over character development, leading to a dull and drawn out film that feels twice its length. It opens with a lifeless voiceover from Bentley to a credit sequence that is like a sub par version of 'Lost Highway' complete with a score that feels like someone borrowing from Hans Zimmer’s B-Sides setting the tone for what is to come.
Visually the first thing that strikes you about the look of the film is that it has a “piss” filter on it to remind audiences that the film takes place close to the deserts surrounding Las Vegas. It’s a lazy choice that indulges in a tired cliche with films shot in these types of locations and it strips the film of any chance of having its own sense of identity or personality. As it progresses this trend continues as there is very little of interest to the workmanlike manner in which the film is shot.
As Robinson, Bentley brings little to nothing to a role that is already threadbare on the page. No matter what scenario he faces, be it a question from a student, facing a life on a witness protection programme or mourning the loss of his wife he carries the same befuddled look on his face, as it is that of a man who isn’t sure if he has followed through with a fart. The only time it changes slightly is through his reaction of facing the car bomb that kills his wife. Here his expression moves from risky flatulence to someone who has been hit with a waft of hot air from the oven. In sleepwalking through the role, he delivers the least compelling leading performances in any Stephen King adaptation. He only truly comes to life when he is enacting his revenge on Dolan which leads me to theorise that he shot that portion of the film first and stopped caring for the rest of the shoot.
There is also little or nothing to do for his wife Elizabeth (Emmanuelle Vaugier) in the film. Given her counterpart in the film it is next to near impossible for her to develop chemistry with him. His stiffness throughout makes his quest for revenge baffling when he exhibits no sense of a romantic connection to her in the early part of the film. They are a married couple in title only and she is merely reduced to being a plot device.
Despite these issues with the protagonists, the main antagonist of the film, Dolan is played with a certain amount of playful sleaze by Christian Slater but unfortunately it spills over into the realm of irritation at times. In the role as a human trafficking mobster, he reverts to his usual schtick of doing an impression of Jack Nicholson while his character delves into some philosophical musings that only his henchmen can appreciate. His descent into a helpless madness in the third act is portrayed quite well but by then most interest in the film has been extinguished.
With a story like 'Dolan’s Cadillac' its journey to the big screen seems to mirror the final cut of the film, as it diminishes over time to being every bit the substandard cookie cutter revenge film you would find in any straight to DVD bin in somewhere like Poundland. It starts off on the wrong foot indulging in its pulpy inclinations whilst abandoning the psychological roots of this type of story that stretch back as far as Poe. Characters are defined by their traits and the story is stretched to its limit leaving it as being one of the most forgettable adaptations of any of Stephen King’s work that deserves to be buried like the titular vehicle.
Verdict: ⭐️½
-Joseph McElroy