If your planning a vacation to the Lake Tahoe area anytime soon The Deep End is the movie for you. It starts off in The Talented Mr Ripley tradition incorporating lovely scenery with thriller elements. Tilda Swinton single-handedly carried the movie on her small shoulders as Margaret Hawl and ultimately they just weren't strong enough.
Consider for example how the film is willing to left unsaid the confrontation we all expect between mother and son. Certainly the makers of the film cannot be faulted for wanting to leave things subtle and not break down into the usual by the books rule of dumb thrillers that calls for a confrontation. And yet I never understood Margaret's motivation. Her and her son had all of three lines in the film and I was expected to believe that four people had to suffer sad fates for him, her loyalty to him was never challenged, and he got away with it in the end. If only he had apologized to his mother it could have been all worthwhile. The movie didn't need the big confrontation about the crime the son committed but couldn't he have said "Mom I'm sorry that I've been worrying you lately. I didn't mean to upset you by hanging out with a 30 year old when I'm only 17 and getting into that car accident." I'm not saying the son should apologize for being gay at all (that's okay) but if I hooked up with a 30 year old guy at 17 years old my mom would be a tad bit worried as well. Instead The Deep End gives us this contrived ending where we expect the son to start asking his mother what's been going on lately and he instead asks if he can call anybody for her. Huh?
I did not believe for a single minute that the Goran Visnjic character was anything more than a complete loser who loved casinos in the end although Tilda Swinton appears to think I'm wrong. The star from ER phoned in his part and when he did say his lines he looked as though he was dying to leave the set to get back to his 5 million dollar penthouse. Please.
The Deep End might be a nice rental when you and your friends want to see a thriller with a woman who is forced to become more than a housewife to protect her family. Don't be prepared for any answers though. I kept wondering what the point was of having the grandfather/father-in-law in the film. I thought that maybe we could have seen how he would respond to the son being gay but no he's just filler for an ill-fated lucky break for Margaret. Unless your planning a trip to Lake Tahoe you'll probably be snoring in your seat by the time you get to see the scenery.
Consider for example how the film is willing to left unsaid the confrontation we all expect between mother and son. Certainly the makers of the film cannot be faulted for wanting to leave things subtle and not break down into the usual by the books rule of dumb thrillers that calls for a confrontation. And yet I never understood Margaret's motivation. Her and her son had all of three lines in the film and I was expected to believe that four people had to suffer sad fates for him, her loyalty to him was never challenged, and he got away with it in the end. If only he had apologized to his mother it could have been all worthwhile. The movie didn't need the big confrontation about the crime the son committed but couldn't he have said "Mom I'm sorry that I've been worrying you lately. I didn't mean to upset you by hanging out with a 30 year old when I'm only 17 and getting into that car accident." I'm not saying the son should apologize for being gay at all (that's okay) but if I hooked up with a 30 year old guy at 17 years old my mom would be a tad bit worried as well. Instead The Deep End gives us this contrived ending where we expect the son to start asking his mother what's been going on lately and he instead asks if he can call anybody for her. Huh?
I did not believe for a single minute that the Goran Visnjic character was anything more than a complete loser who loved casinos in the end although Tilda Swinton appears to think I'm wrong. The star from ER phoned in his part and when he did say his lines he looked as though he was dying to leave the set to get back to his 5 million dollar penthouse. Please.
The Deep End might be a nice rental when you and your friends want to see a thriller with a woman who is forced to become more than a housewife to protect her family. Don't be prepared for any answers though. I kept wondering what the point was of having the grandfather/father-in-law in the film. I thought that maybe we could have seen how he would respond to the son being gay but no he's just filler for an ill-fated lucky break for Margaret. Unless your planning a trip to Lake Tahoe you'll probably be snoring in your seat by the time you get to see the scenery.