Beloved *** (1998, Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton) – Classic Movie Review 5355

Oprah Winfrey gives up the talk show day job to be producer-star of her pet project, a lavish and reverentially handled, but ponderously achieved 1998 film version of Toni Morrison’s 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved.

Oprah plays Sethe, a middle-aged mother back in 1873 whose life is changed when her old slave chum Paul D (Danny Glover) moves in and they befriend a girl called Beloved (Thandie Newton) who seems one sandwich short of a picnic.

Director Jonathan Demme, in his first film since 1993’s Philadelphia, takes it all too slowly and milks a shockingly overlong epic (172 minutes) for every ounce of significance, making it seem heavyweight in the wrong way. He muddles the big dramatic highlights and muffles a lot of the words – a big fault in a talky, stagey drama.

For all that, the three stars give it their best shot and it is made with the utmost care by co-producer Demme in the most handsome and costly production ($80 million) imaginable for this ambitious material.

Beloved is written by Akosua Busia, Richard LaGravenese and Adam Brooks, based on Toni Morrison’s novel, is shot by Demme’s regular cinematographer Tak Fujimoto, produced by Winfrey, Demme, Gary Goetzman and Kate Forte, scored by Rachel Portman and set designed by Kristi Zea.

Also in the cast are Kimberly Elise, Beah Richards, Lisa Gaye Hamilton, Albert Hall, Irma P Hall, Jason Robards Jr, Carol Jean Lewis, Kessia Randall, Jude Ciccolella, Anthony Chisholm, Dorothy Love Coates and Jane White.

It grossed only $22.8 million in the US.

Jason Robards Jr (1922–2000), who plays Mr Bodwin, stars as Howard Hughes in Demme’s Melvin and Howard (1980).

There was a four-year gap till Demme’s next movie, The Truth about Charlie.

RIP Jonathan Demme, who died aged 73 on 26 April 2017.

RIP Beloved author Toni Morrison, who died on 5 August 2019, aged 88. She was the winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and named Nobel laureate in literature in 1993.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 5355

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

Beloved author Toni Morrison.