Toni Morrison story about a former servant in post-Civil War Ohio who, while working as a cook and living with her troubled teenage daughter (in a house touched by a spirit from the past),is visited by a man she once knew 18 years ago when she was a troubled girl from Kentucky. They forge a loving friendship built upon their memories, but the horrors of their youth sneak back into the yard once a wild child named Beloved shows up and is taken in. Fill-in-the-blanks melodrama moves along fluidly, yet intrinsically keeps tripping itself up. Director Jonathan Demme wants the overstuffed tale to unfold slowly, but by explaining so little about the central characters he risks alienating his audience. Within the first few minutes, Demme employs a technical effect which looks (and plays) cheap, followed by an outpouring of sorrowful family anger which gets the first act off on the wrong foot. The narrative is, in fact, so fuzzy that we're not sure who Oprah Winfrey's character is, how she makes her living, or what her relationship is with her daughter (who appears disturbed). When the stranger Beloved is readily welcomed by Winfrey into the home, talking in a staccato sing-song, we're not told why. Demme seems to think the mood music and the haunted/loving expression on Winfrey's face will tell us what we need to know, but this backfires (the film is practically intent on shutting out logic, replacing it with soul-bearing emotion). Perhaps in an attempt to retain Morrison's prose, the screenwriters don't allow these people to have normal conversations (it's all steeped in the hypothetical). "Beloved" has an interesting pictorial look, although the cinematography by Tak Fujimoto is too clear and pristine (as it was also, for example, in "The Color Purple", shot by Allen Daviau),and the tidy yards and weathered rooms look too Hollywood. Demme darts around avoiding explanations, while Thandie Newton's Beloved skitters about like a banshee. Winfrey, who also co-produced, gives an uneven performance hindered by the dialogue; her lack of sparkle reminds us she can be a gravely intelligent presence, but her solemn looks of longing don't register anything intriguing (we're supposed to be drawn to this woman because of Winfrey's personality, I assume, yet with Oprah so subdued we're left with nothing but a skin-deep portrait). It's a misbegotten venture. With hurting eyes rimmed with tears, mouths torn by grief, and hands grasping and clutching at the air, "Beloved" whips up quite a tempest, yet it's mostly hot air. ** from ****

A painfully misguided attempt at adapting the soaringly beautiful Toni Morrison novel to the screen.

Oprah Winfrey was death to this movie. I remember her promoting it like it was medicine, something everyone should see because it would be good for them. And her ridiculous stories about channeling her slave ancestors while playing the character of Sethe were embarrassing, given the mediocre performance she delivers. Her slave ancestors must be rolling in their graves.

Director Jonathan Demme and company seem to completely miss the point of Morrison's novel, which was that African-Americans need to move past the atrocities of their heritage if they are ever to grow as a people. Instead, the movie focuses on pain, anger and resentment, and leaves one just feeling downright bad.

Grade: D

When a powerful voice in the entertainment industry over promotes a project and it ends up being critically assailed and ignored by moviegoers, that says something about that project. Yes, it made 22 million dollars, but it's ridiculous budget indicates that less would have been more, and had this focused on story rather than shock value and finger wagging and ultimately narcissism, it could have been a bit more beloved, but rather than being done simply, what result is a film that unfortunately will only appeal what small number and creates major division when it is discussed. Taking away at least 20 minutes of hideous visuals that are painful to see on the screen and be less extremists in its nature would have been much wiser for a novel that had great promise but has ended up a complete misfire.

When a powerful voice in the entertainment industry over promotes a project and it ends up being critically assailed and ignored by moviegoers, that says something about that project. Yes, it made 22 million dollars, but it's ridiculous budget indicates that less would have been more, and had this focused on story rather than shock value and finger wagging and ultimately narcissism, it could have been a bit more beloved, but rather than being done simply, what result is a film that unfortunately will only appeal what small number and creates major division when it is discussed. Taking away at least 20 minutes of hideous visuals that are painful to see on the screen and be less extremists in its nature would have been much wiser for a novel that had great promise but has ended up a complete misfire.

Thandi Newton is the breakout star here, a divine presence in a not so divine film. Oprah may have had good intentions, but they got lost somewhere along the way, and she does not come out of this unscathed. Veteran actors like Beah Richards and Jason Robards do well in their parts, but turning a historical drama into nearly a gross out horror film even if it doesn't have that team makes it difficult to stick with and watch without feeling you have to turn your head away or walk out of the room. Perhaps Jonathan Demme should have taken some scissors to the script and trimmed away elements that may have been successful in "Silence of the Lambs", but only adds to a confusing mess of a post Civil War story about the decades after slavery that will leave much of its audience angry and confused.