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Movies / On DVD / Beloved
Beloved

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Beloved (1998)

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Reviews Counted:66

Fresh:51

Rotten:15

Average Rating:7/10

Consensus: A powerful, emotional and successful film adaptation of the original novel.

Runtime: 2 hrs 52 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: With the startling, engrossing world of Beloved, director Jonathan Demme returns to the big screen following his Academy Award-winning work on The Silence of the Lambs and the emotional power of... With the startling, engrossing world of Beloved, director Jonathan Demme returns to the big screen following his Academy Award-winning work on The Silence of the Lambs and the emotional power of Philadelphia to craft a story of singular emotional impact. Academy Award nominee Oprah Winfrey stars with Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise and Beah Richards in this compelling story adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison. Beloved translates to the screen with its visceral daring intact, thoroughly immersing viewers in the haunting, haunted landscape of this story.

Oprah Winfrey, for whom Beloved is the ultimate labor of love, appears in her first starring feature film role since earning an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in The Color Purple, with a performance of undeniable fearlessness. Winfrey optioned the rights to Beloved upon its publication and nurtured the project for nearly a decade, personally shepherding it to its current incarnation as one of the most anticipated motion picture events of the year.

Winfrey stars as Sethe, a woman of elemental grace and unspoken mystery. A figure of fierce determination, Sethe is a runaway slave struggling to carve out her own simple existence with her children in rural Ohio, 1873. Preventing her from achieving that, however, is the painful legacy of her former life, and the desperate measures to which she is driven to keep herself and her family from returning to it.

Danny Glover stars as Paul D, an old friend who comes to visit Sethe and whose understanding is tested by her household's shattering secrets. Kimberly Elise portrays Sethe's daughter, Denver, an embattled young woman who must free herself from the crippling grasp that her mother's choices have on her. And Thandie Newton is Beloved. As Beloved grows to become part of Sethe's family, her devastating presence threatens to destroy the delicate balance of Sethe and Denver's existence. [More]

Starring: Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise

Starring: Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Beah Richards, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Albert Hall, Irma P. Hall

Director: Jonathan Demme

Director: Jonathan Demme
Screenwriter: Akosua Busia, Richard LaGravenese, Adam Brooks
Producer: Jonathan Demme, Oprah Winfrey, Gary Goetzman, Edward Saxon, Kate Forte
Composer: Rachel Portman

[See More Credits]

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Release:

May 18, 1999

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Beloved
  • Oprah Winfrey (THE COLOR PURPLE) and Danny Glover (LETHAL WEAPON IV, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS) play the unforgettable lead roles in a powerful, widely acclaimed cinematic triumph from Jonathan Demme -- the Academy Award(R)-winning director of THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. On a difficult journey to find freedom, Sethe (Winfrey) is constantly confronted by the secrets that have haunted her for years. Then, an old friend from out of her past (Glover) unexpectedly reenters her life. With his help, Sethe may finally be able to rediscover who she is and regain her lost sense of hope. Also featuring outstanding performances from Thandie Newton (GRIDLOCK'D) and Lisa Gay Hamilton (TV's THE PRACTICE) -- you'll agree with critics everywhere who've hailed this landmark adaptation of Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel as one of the year's finest films!
  • Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for Beloved

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    61 - 78 (sorted by date)
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    A movie of moments--moments of raw, lyrical emotional power scattered over a nearly three-hour time expanse.

    Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Michael Dequina
    Michael Dequina
    TheMovieReport.com

    The elaborate, soaring Beloved may alight on the ground with a tap rather than a thud, but land it does, after a harrowing, breathtaking flight.

    Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Michael O'Sullivan
    Michael O'Sullivan
    Washington Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Beloved is a movie that swims in your bloodstream, echoes through your bones!

    comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Michael Wilmington
    Michael Wilmington
    Chicago Tribune
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Mike McGranaghan
    Mike McGranaghan
    Aisle Seat

    A dense, jangled cataclysm of enigma and outrage.

    comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Owen Gleiberman
    Owen Gleiberman
    Entertainment Weekly
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    This screeching, grotesque display of shattered human dignity is about as subtle as five or ten thousand kicks in the head from a mule, with the kicks getting exceedingly baroque as the movie progresses.

    Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Paul Tatara
    Paul Tatara
    CNN.com

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Rob Blackwelder
    Rob Blackwelder
    SPLICEDWire

    I was sometimes confused about events as they happened, but all the pieces are there, and the film creates an emotional whole.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Roger Ebert
    Roger Ebert
    Chicago Sun-Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Full of cathartic emotion and earnest dignity!

    Full Review Source: Scott Renshaw's Screening Room | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Scott Renshaw
    Scott Renshaw
    Scott Renshaw's Screening Room

    A remarkable movie!

    comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Sean Means
    Sean Means
    Film.com
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Stanley Kauffmann
    Stanley Kauffmann
    New Republic
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    There are many strengths, including the cinematography, sound design and a hauntingly allusive score.

    comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Steven Rosen
    Steven Rosen
    Denver Post
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    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Susan Granger
    Susan Granger
    rec.arts.movies.reviews

    It is an urgently intimate epic of the heart, a dramatization of a monumental journey of pain, love and, tentatively, hope that has scorching emotional impact.

    Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Susan Stark
    Susan Stark
    Detroit News
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Beloved has power and impressive artistry to spare!

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Todd McCarthy
    Todd McCarthy
    Variety
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    For nearly three overwrought hours, Beloved drags at a draining pace, intermittently introducing unfulfilled story arcs and false climaxes.

    Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Tyler McLeod
    Tyler McLeod
    Jam! Movies
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Urban Cinefile Critics
    Urban Cinefile Critics
    Urban Cinefile
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Walter V. Addiego
    Walter V. Addiego
    San Francisco Examiner
     
     
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