Jonathan Demme is a fine filmmaker, and someday one of his movies will live up to the tremendous hype and reviews it has received. However, "Beloved" is not that film.
It's not difficult to see exactly where this unrelenting and uneven adaptation of Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel goes wrong. Although it's extremely well-acted and has a very powerful message behind it, this supernatural, Civil War-era drama is also overwrought and overly long.Another major problem involves one of the central storylines from the source material. In the book, the characters live in a haunted house and receive an odd visitation from the past, which works very well on the printed page. On film, though, it comes off as horribly contrived and unconvincing.
And like his adaptation of "The Silence of the Lambs," the film is too exploitational in its depiction of sex and violence. While Demme has never been the model of restraint, he really pushes the envelope here with some content decisions that seem to be sensationalistic rather than good story-telling.
Oprah Winfrey (who also co-produced the film) stars as Sethe, a middle-aged black American who is still haunted by experiences as a slave. She also happens to live in a haunted house in Ohio with her daughter, Denver (Kimberly Elise).
Enter Paul D. (Danny Glover), an old friend of Sethe's whose brief visit turns into something more serious - a romantic relationship with Sethe, for one thing. He also seems to get rid of their nagging poltergeist problems.
But almost as soon as that situation is resolved, another one materializes with the mysterious arrival of Beloved (Thandie Newton), a beautiful teenager with a childlike mind. Beloved also seems to know a lot about Sethe's tragic past and threatens to disrupt the newfound sense of harmony.
The ultimate resolution of this plotline is somewhat unsatisfying, and you get the feeling Demme might have been better off if he had just played the movie straight rather than even bring up the ghostly portion of the novel.
(Of course, that probably would have offended the book's legions of fans, so there may have been no way to satisfy everyone.)
Also, there's no telling what effect having three screenwriters had on the film - although the story does feel a bit disjointed.
Then there's the pacing. Running nearly three hours, the film feels at least that long - if not even longer than "Dances With Wolves" did.
However, there's no denying the strength of the performances by Winfrey and Glover. These two are so wonderful that they're surely worthy of Oscar nominations, if not more.
Still, their brilliance is offset slightly by Newton, whose irritatingly mannered performance veers wildly between childlike naivete and frightening malevolence.
"Beloved" is rated R for violent whippings and beatings, male and full female nudity, profanity, simulated sex, rape, some extremely gruesome animal makeup effects, vulgar slang and a vulgar reaction and use of some racial epithets.