In at the Deep End (The Deep End Of The Ocean (DVD))

Member Name: bilbob20

Product:	The Deep End Of The Ocean (DVD)
Date:	10/04/08 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good performances, sidesteps sentimental tosh

Disadvantages: Flat direction

Based on a true story that was novelised by Jacquelyn Mitchard, this film tells the story of Beth Cappadora, whose middle child goes missing when she attends a high school reunion. Beth's life instantly falls apart, she becomes neglectful of her other two children and her husband resents her as he tries to put their lives back together. Beth's sole source of comfort is in her own bitterness as she rails against the world, with only new found friend and detective on the case Candy Bliss offering a shoulder to cry on.

8 years pass, and Beth manages to put together some semblence of a life. Her husband Pat's restaurant is taking off, and she has ordinary problems with a precocious daughter and a rebellious teenage son. However, things take a turn for the better when a child who resembles the missing Ben turns up on her doorstep. Sam, as he now calls himself, lives happily oblivious with a loving step-dad, but is about to find his life uprouted by the revelation that he was once Ben Cappadora. Everybody goes through realisations that life will never be the same, as Sam has to choose which parent he should be with and Beth has to finally let go of her demons despite Pat's insistence that he wont lose his son again.

The Deep End... manages to avoid too much in the way of sentimentality. It tugs on the heartstrings for all the right reasons. Parents everywhere will relate to Beth's plight, and anybody who has ever lost their child in a crowd will feel her panic. The script manages to refrain from cliche's and provides a finale that doesn't neccessarily make for a happy ending, but certainly articulates the idea that this family will still be building bridges long after the credits have rolled.

Michelle Pfeiffer turns in a believable performance as a distraught mother whose life is thrown into turmoil. She is the central focus of the film, therefore the relationships between the other characters take a backseat to her relationship with each of them. Pfeiffer does bitter best, and its when she rips into members of her family for bringing gifts for her lost son that you get to see her get her teeth into the role. At other times she can be winsome.

Treat Williams lends able support, and you get to see an inkling of his bitterness and rage at a wife that he feels has let him down in everyway. For the first half of the film, he gets to hold it together, but things start to unravel for him in the latter half. Jonothan Jackson and Ryan Merriman both show promise in early roles of their careers, with Jackson being in the more sympathetic role despite Merriman's character being the main focus of the film. Whoopi Goldberg is on hand to lend some light relief, as well as support to a crutchless Pfeiffer, and even her name might have you stifling a couple of laughs.

There are ocassions when Stephen Schiff's script verges on daft. An early exchange between Beth and Candy makes for a pointless revelation that doesn't explain anything, and nor does it need to. However, for the most part it avoids manipulation and just lets the narrative speak for itself. It also approaches a subject that is all too often in the news these days from a distinctly different angle. This is a boy who hasn't been abused. In fact, he has been loved for the most part. Therefore, it almost suggests that when he is returned to his rightful family that it is in fact them that are being abusive by imprisoning him. Its an interesting way to look at it, although the fact remains that Beth's child was unlawfully stolen from her.

A small gripe with the script, as I've already mentioned, is that the other relationships in the film aren't really explored all that well. We dont get to see what Pat really thinks of his eldest son and his rebellion until the very last act. And the relationship between Sam (Ben) and Beth is pushed to the forefront so much so that Pat might as well have been a stepfather who Beth married after Ben went missing. The only relationship that gets an exploration, in the last act, is the jealousy experienced by Vincent, the oldest boy in the family.

Ulu Grosbard does very little of note with his direction. The visuals of the film are flat and boring, and he directs as if he is doing a supermarket ad or a made-for-channel-five film. However, the actors manage to sidestep his inept direction, and come across well, and the sets are attractive enough to look good on film. Elmer Bernstein provides the soundtrack which gives the film a nice edge. Like the script and the actors performances, its a low-key soundtrack that blends nicely with the film and provides the backdrop to a few heartbreaking moments when required.

The DVD has a couple of interviews with Michelle Pfeiffer, Treat Williams, Jonathan Jackson and Ryan Merrimen as well as the director. They are cut up soundbites that provide very little in the way of insight into the story that this is based on.

Summary: All in all though, its a film that manages to swerve the conventions of true story adaptations.