58
Metascore
24 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100San Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannSan Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannDoesn't sanitize its tale of African American loss and survival -- the way Steven Spielberg's “The Color Purple'' did -- but delves deeply, heartbreakingly into an American tragedy.
- 90Chicago ReaderLisa AlspectorChicago ReaderLisa AlspectorThis terrifyingly beautiful movie blends metaphor and stark social commentary to achieve a spontaneous grace.
- 88The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyJonathan Demme's potent adaptation of Morrison's novel may be substantial, but it is also engrossing, a movie that plays at times like a combination of “Gone With The Wind” and “The Exorcist.”
- 70Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranBeloved is ungainly and hard to follow at times, like the proverbial giant not quite sure how to best use its strength. But that power exists, present and undeniable, and once this film gets its bearings, the unsentimental fierceness of its vision brushes obstacles and quibbles from its path.
- 58Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanWinfrey's performance is full of stoic anger, and individual moments have ferocity and pull, yet you're always aware of them as moments.
- Beloved tries to be an anthem of the spirit, and that's just about the most difficult--and unfilmable--thing you can attempt in the movies. Demme stretches things out to epic length, but what was really needed here was an epic imagination.
- 50San Francisco ExaminerWalter AddiegoSan Francisco ExaminerWalter AddiegoThe dramatic payoff is a bit disappointing; the movie is often overwrought; and its sense of its own importance finally wears you down.
- 50L.A. WeeklyElla TaylorL.A. WeeklyElla TaylorThough Beloved sags into repetition after two of its three hours, this beautiful movie is suffused with an intensity that holds our attention for the conclusion.
- 40Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanDutiful as it is, Jonathan Demme's Beloved doesn't succeed so much as it abides…it moves in leisurely fits and--unencumbered by style or narrative complexity--never loses its forward momentum.
- 30SalonCharles TaylorSalonCharles TaylorWhen the movie isn't hitting us over the head, it's spooning out the material to us like broth to an invalid, drop by flavorless drop. The excruciating pace mirrors the sluggishness of Morrison's sonorous prose.