Year:
1999
Studio:
Columbia Pictures/Mandalay Entertainment
Movie:
3/5
DVD:
1/5
Teaser
How is a family devastated when a child goes missing? Perhaps worse,
what happens when the child is found after 10 years? Pat (Treat
Williams) and Beth (Michelle Pfeiffer) Cappadora have three kids --
Vincent, Ben and Kerry. Taking the kids to her 15-year high school
reunion, Beth leaves Vincent and Ben alone for a few minutes and when
she returns Ben is gone.
They look everywhere. The police come in. Media coverage is intense.
But Ben isn't found. Beth is heartbroken and manically depressed. It
takes her ten years for her and her family to regain a semblance of
life after moving to Chicago. And then Ben shows up. By sheer fate,
he's been living with his new dad in Chicago all these years. But now
that they've found him, can they convince Ben to be happy with people
who are almost strangers to him?
Movie
"The Deep End of the Ocean" is a serious drama. Bad things happen,
people are devastated, and even when it looks like it's going to be ok
it turns out that it's not going to be easy. It's a character study --
man (in this case a whole family) against his own personal demons -- so
I can see that it will be boring to some, but I found that it was a
fine movie.
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Actors
Have I mentioned that Michelle Pfeiffer is one of my favorite
actresses? This is a heavy role in that she has to be hysterical a lot
and she pulled it off well. Treat Williams has something missing. He
does fine portrayals and he's good in this movie. But every time I see
him I keep thinking of all those B-movies he's starred in, like "Deep
Rising" and "The Substitute 2". And to me it's like his place in the
universe is to star in bad movies.
Whoopi Goldberg on the other hand I keep wondering why she doesn't get
better roles. She's a great actress and in this movie she has a great
complex character, the black lesbian Texan police officer Candace Bliss
who heads the investigation, a character that should be explored more
(or should have been made blander) but then that would take away from
the movie.
DVD
There is a two or three minute promotional featurette and the
theatrical trailer included.
Recommendations
This is a heavy movie that is not for everyone. But if you want to see
Michelle Pfeiffer in a different role this is a good one. |