James Spader

'White Palace'Starring Susan Sarandon and James Spader.Directed by Luis Mandoki.Released by Universal.Rated R.... **"White Palace" is almost the flip side of "Avalon.""Avalon" celebrated the richness of Jewish family culture, the nurturing, the sweetness, the support -- and mourned its passing. "White Palace" looks at all that and says, goodbye. It finds happiness ever after in flight from the values of childhood and the snares of family.Conceived as a riff on the theme of erotic awakening, it concerns 27-year-old Max Baron, a St. Louis advertising man still in mourning over the death of his wife of two years ago (and still celibate)

WE'RE INTO another cycle, a small but good one, the romantic film. It may have begun with ''When Harry Met Sally.'' It continued with ''Pretty Woman'' and ''Ghost.''It is certainly continuing with ''White Palace,'' and if the cycle continues to produce titles as good as this one, let it move along.''White Palace'' plays like a '30s romantic comedy, save for the language and the sex. The '30s movies were never this obvious, never this frank, but then a lot of comedy has passed under that bridge.