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JACKIE CI CHRIS TUCKER "acieBSSSS'3-r movie review te'tezis Jitam Ml' II 71 hi ul- 1 fiUSH HOUR RU ri ten-m 1 1 1 new line cinemaU MumniiiWiniWTHiWtiiiiirMii1iiooigTOUiLWP I r. .1 ill CIWPLEX ODEON MENLO PARK MALL CINEMAS EDISON J77-FILM 067 NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS HAZLET MULTIPLEX CINEMAS 264-2200 KENDALL PARK CINEMAS 7 SONY THEATfiES MONMOUTH MAll EATONTOWN 935-1000 LQEWS NEW IRUNSWICE HIGHWAY 1 M6-9200 LOEWS SEACOURT PAVILION CLEAflVIEW CINEMAS Kimberly Elise, Oprah Winfrey and Thandie Newton are among the cast members of "Beloved." LOEWS BRICK PLAZA THEATRE CEOAR BRIDGE ROAD 2 ATE 70 477-6200 CLEARVIEW cinemas EDISON CINEMAS EOISON 549-6666 SONY THEATRES FREEHOLD METROPUX FREEHOLD 294-7775 REGAL CINEMAS gMliRttMBIM II MARLBORO CINEMA OCEA 483-M00 rninaiifr DOST: 'Beloved' is an epic tale of tragedy and triumph Demme is the right choice to direct Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (written for the screen by Akosua Busia and Richard LaGravanese): He brings to the movie his humanism, his fascination with nature and the inexplicable, and his respect for actors. As Sethe, Winfrey has rare grace and strength; l75i6i4f 1 TT BELOVED Demme lets the camera fondle Starring Oprah her brav6i Winfrey, clear-eyed face, Danny Glover, and when Kimberly Elise Sethe "breaks into Newton there is no glamourizing the messiness of mental breakdown. Winfrey looks like hell. Opens today Jonathan Demme directed By ELEANOR O'SULLTVAN Movie Writer Because "Beloved" is about the shattering personal and societal effects of slavery and abuse, it's tricky putting it under the banal heading of soap opera.

But consider this: The story of Sethe, portrayed by a transcendent Oprah Winfrey, contains soap staples such as unwed teen pregnancy, agoraphobia, manic depression and murder. And yet, "Beloved" and the standard soap are light years apart "Beloved" is very good at many things, but most importantly, it restores our sense of horror at life's tragic turns. By illustration, not preaching, it reminds us to take each other's woes seriously. Audiences weary at being jaded by numbing violence will sit up straight when a black slave's breasts are milked dry by terrorizing white men. In flashback, we see the woman's mother strapped to a hanging platform, her arms pinned back, her face covered with a mouthpiece to hush her screams.

When pregnant Sethe's bloodied bare feet can run no more from vigilantes, her water breaks and she pushes out Denver, a daughter who will become a mostly silent observer of life's harrowing events. "Beloved" is filled with images that break our hearts and make us reevaluate our blithe attitudes, but it never wallows or indulges in self-pity. In fact, "Beloved" ends on a note of high spirits and reaffirmation, in the hands of the mesmerizing Bean Richards' Baby Suggs, Sethe's mother-in-law. This is exactly what I expect from Jonathan Demme, who wrought compassion out of the AIDS drama "Philadel- lieves she sent to heaven. The return of other-wordly Beloved is meant to remind Sethe that she has committed a grievous crime.

This element of the story must have been tough for Demme to handle: How do you keep your film rooted in "The as Sethe calls reality, with this kind of mystical element? For me, the jury is still out on Thandie Newton's performance as the murdered daughter who comes back to haunt Sethe. I can't decide whether it is a work of art or strangely annoying. At times, Newton's Beloved seems to be suffering from mental retardation rather than being a reborn spirit. And yet, Newton makes an emphatic impression, especially when she cries out her need for the mother who killed her. The supporting cast, which chiefly includes her children, her lover and her mother-in-law, complements Winfrey's non-prima donna performance.

Although Newton is sure to get the hottest press for the movie, Kimberly Elise's Denver is fine, subtle acting. Elise adroitly conveys emotions with shifts of facial expression, and her emergence as a confident young woman is convincing. Danny Glover has the meaty role of Paul who essentially serves as Sethe's savior. Taken on its most simplistic level you could say that Sethe comes back from the dead herself with the help of her community and her man. Does Demme overemphasize Paul D's healing power? Feminists like me would prefer Sethe to heal herself, but the world of "Beloved" is a harsh, dangerous place; and a "sweet man," even one who- once abandoned iSefteJsjtO be cerishe.o; for violence, nudity "Beloved" begins in 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclama- 1 raff it tion freed VTO HOHHCH AWI Of AlVtW CINfMAS CSANFORD FtVCLEX HEADQUARTERS 276-9120 MOUISTOWN 292O60 SONY TMEATHS EAST HANOVER SI HMO ClEAffWW ONEMAS EDISON ONEMAS 5494444 Of AIVCW ONEMAS EMERSON QUAD 241 1000 GftAtOMA ESSEX GREEN 9 OtANGE 73I-77S SONY TMEATHS FREEHOLD METtOPLEX I40nt lEOAtONFMAS HADLEY ONEMA 11 SO riAMKU) IEGA1 CINEMAS HUDSON MAU ONEMA7 JttStYCITY 434-U14 KENDALL PARK ONEMA7 SO ItiiNSWCf 4222444 CtfAIWW ONEMAS KM MAU ONEMAS KtNNEtON 492 MOO Lincoln cinemas AHMGIGN 99779 rTDmrlEATBrt LINDEN QUAD t25-97l7 IfSifl mattaw trplex NCWTCMK M1313 CMEflFI OCT ON MEMO RARX MAU ONEMAS EC HON 777JHM967 SONY THEATtfS MONMOUTH MAU ITS JJ SA 91V) COO JONVTHfUTffi MOUNTAttftOI 2324111 MOVKS AT RUNSWKXSa 2J7SiSJ IOEWS NEW MtUNSWKXM IS US 49700 tOEWI NEWARK METROPUX curntt oof on NEWPORT CENTRE ONEMAS fisfvarr 777-TDMMI2 CtWEMA SEMTH NEWTON TWM S79t9J L(out of 4) slaves in all territories still at war with the Union.

It spans eight years in the life of Sethe, a Kentucky slave who flees Sweet Home for Cincinnati, Ohio. Her husband and two sons don't make the escape with Sethe, who murders her elder daughter, Beloved, rather than see white men humiliate her in slavery. That leaves Sethe and Denver to make a go of it on a humble Ohio farm, until Paul a friend from Sweet Home, arrives and becomes Sethe's lover and surrogate father to Denver. Their placid lives are disrupted by a strange nature girl, they take In; she Is eventually re-vealedjisjthe, ONmnooEON ROUTE 17 TRIPLEX MtAMUS 777 tM tSU OENEU1 CNEMA RUTQERS PLAZA ONEMA SIX EIANIUN IWF. I2S47I7 IOEWS SEACOURT PAVRJON IOMS 4WEI 5OS4400 Of AtVVW ONEMAS SUQCASUNNA ONEMA TO SI4M40 ussn SUMMIT QUAD UNKJN CITY t4V2t7t CIEATTVEENT UMON SEVENPLEX 4U-4J71 rtOKNCKATM VALLEY VEW ONEMAS mi 3054900 CMMA SEMtES WASHNGTON THEATRES IOEWS WAYNE 990C303 NATl AMUSEMENTS All JERSEY MULTIPLEX ONEMAS NtWAtX 174100 NAn AMUSEMENTS AMBOY MULTIPLEX JAVtlVWi 721-MW OfAtVfWClNWM I KtOCNFCD ONUAA5S-I400 KX PLAZA THEATRE CtOAl UCGf ID 1 ITf 70 4774300 CASTLf TWIN IMNGION 12 Mlf Of AIWW CMMJ CHESTER ONEMAS 194444 Of AIVFW ONEMAS CINEMA 23 CMOVl H7I77 NATHAN ONEMAPIAZA RVEFUX rt? 1777 cunoN quad 36)0K rvAHCAt torws HAWTHORNE QUAO MEADOW JKAUCUS 4664I41 42? 2121 ClfAIVfW ONEMAS MKXXEIROOK IOEWS Nn AMUSE MfMTS HAZLET MUtTWX ONEMAS 9AILEHA ONEMA 10 RIDOfTKLD RAAX UltftN 4404441 244 7700 mocuKm dbcouwt tciti taxnto.