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- 1988
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 30 m
- 1988
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 30 m
Summary A Jamaican woman becomes the housekeeper for a rich Baltimore family and bonds with a disillusioned teenage boy.
Directed By: Robert Mulligan
Written By: Joseph Olshan, Mark Medoff
- 1988
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 30 m
- 1988
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 30 m
Clara's Heart
52
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Where to Watch
Summary A Jamaican woman becomes the housekeeper for a rich Baltimore family and bonds with a disillusioned teenage boy.
Directed By: Robert Mulligan
Written By: Joseph Olshan, Mark Medoff
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
52
42% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
33% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
25% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
52
42% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
33% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
25% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Buoyed by a beautifully measured star turn by Whoopi Goldberg and a smashing screen debut for young Neil Patrick Harris, Clara's Dream is a powerful, unabashedly sentimental drama.
Clara's Heart is a warm movie with many lessons to tell, if one is willing to listen. Its force is aided by Goldberg's performance and a noteworthy movie debut of Neil Patrick Harris as David. [17 Oct 1988]
Clara's Heart has several pluses. There's the rapport between Goldberg and Harris, impressive in his screen debut. And it is a relief to see Goldberg working back into The Color Purple mode.
The problem with Clara's Heart is that it grows increasingly sentimental and improbable. [16 Nov 1988, p.D05]
Whoopi Goldberg gives a first-rate performance in Clara's Heart, enough to atone for the sins of her Fatal Beauty period. But it's nifty work in a lost cause. The movie is sickly sweet, shot through with the kind of confectioner's sentiment that Hollywood used to crank out on assembly lines until the formula slid into disuse. [21 Oct 1988, p.E10]
As directed by Robert Mulligan, the stately pace here feels sluggish and the music is no elegiac Pachelbel's "Canon" but a medley of dreadful cocktail lounge piano and swooning strings. [21 Oct 1988, p.G]
Whoopi Goldberg here made her first stab at drama since her film debut in The Color Purple, and it's simply appalling. She's mawkishly maternal, and her patois is about as convincing as Lionel Richie's.
User Reviews
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Production Company
MTM Enterprises,
Warner Bros.
Release Date Oct 7, 1988
Duration 1 h 30 m
Rating PG-13
Genres
Tagline Clara's wisdom. Clara's warmth. Clara's secret.
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Nomination
Young Artist Awards
• 2 Nominations
Image Awards (NAACP)
• 1 Nomination
