The Deep End Of The Ocean
The Search For Her Son Was Over. The Search For Her Family Was Just Beginning.
A seemingly joyous return to a high school reunion becomes every woman's worst nightmare when her son suddenly disappears. Michelle Pfeiffer delivers a powerful performance as a wife and mother faced with rebuilding her life and family after they've been shockingly torn apart. Also stars Treat Williams and Whoopi Golberg.
Member Reviews
Beautifully done! - anwallette
This movie depicts every parents' worst nightmare - your child gets taken and everyone expects you to move on. It also gives a glimpse of how a child abduction affects the whole family and the ties that bind.
Beth spends 9 years attempting to move on and gets to a good place in her life when her long-lost son shows up on her doorstep.
Make sure to have tissues ready!A Superficial Treatment Of A Complicated Subject - revsdd
This movie raises feelings of sympathy from anyone who watches it. You feel sorry for everyone: for Pat and Beth, whose 3 year old son is kidnapped; for Vincent, who loses his brother; for Carrie, who never knew her brother; for Sam/Ben, who lost all memory of his birth family and ended up torn away from everything he knows; for George, who unknowingly adopts Sam/Ben as his son and then loses him. Everyone is a sympathetic character. So, the movie pulls the heartstrings well, but it offered little depth to the subject or the characters. It was superficial - it introduced the issue but only scratched the surface. Maybe that's inevitable in a movie dealing with such a difficult subject, or maybe it was the result of a poorly constructed movie that tried to give us a sense of everyone's feelings, when it might have been more powerful had it focused on just one of the characters, and how they reacted to this insane situation. Then, it makes the biggest mistake it could have made - going for the happy, sappy ending, which was too easy. There was a sense of uncertainty to the ending, as Sam/Ben admits to Vincent that he doesn't know if his decision to move back with the Cappadoras is "permanent," but it still seemed too fairy-tale.
The opening of the movie works, and you share the growing sense of panic after Ben goes missing. Unfortunately, the plot ends up being driven by a device that's just too contrived - Sam/Ben and his adoptive father living just two blocks away from the house the Cappadoras move to in Chicago, and Beth recognizing him when he shows up offering to cut their grass. I also found Whoopi Goldberg's character of Det. Candy Bliss distracting and unnecessary - and why would anyone care that she was a lesbian? That revelation came out of the blue and served no purpose whatsoever. That does, however, illustrate another problem: the script was often either too cliche or extraneous to the story.not quite so shallow - embrazo
I think the previous review by cathyottawa was a bit harsh. Admittedly, this movie breaks no new emotional ground, but neither is it an emotional joyride. There are some difficult circumstances well portrayed and written. Way too much of the plot is given away in the All Movie Guide summary, but once you've read it you can see how this would have been a good premise to pitch. Trouble is, it works better as an idea than an actual movie. The circumstances are almost unresolvable. I found myself more interested in the brotherly love angle than the husband/wife thing. And poor Michelle Pfeiffer is at a terrible disadvantage in roles like this; she's just too damn gorgeous to be believable.
Member Reviews
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Beautifully done! - anwallette
This movie depicts every parents' worst nightmare - your child gets taken and everyone expects you to move on. It also gives a glimpse of how a child abduction affects the whole family and the ties that bind.
Beth spends 9 years attempting to move ...A Superficial Treatment Of A Complicated Subject - revsdd
This movie raises feelings of sympathy from anyone who watches it. You feel sorry for everyone: for Pat and Beth, whose 3 year old son is kidnapped; for Vincent, who loses his brother; for Carrie, who never knew her brother; for Sam/Ben, who lost all memory ...not quite so shallow - embrazo
I think the previous review by cathyottawa was a bit harsh. Admittedly, this movie breaks no new emotional ground, but neither is it an emotional joyride. There are some difficult circumstances well portrayed and written. Way too much of the plot is given ...