FFVP Review-The Deep End of The Ocean

THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN

Any parent who has ever lost a kid in a department store will identify with Beth Capadora’s panic in "The Deep End of the Ocean." Luckily, most parents find their kids playing Hide and Seek in the thick of a circular clothing rack. Beth is not so lucky. Her three year old son Ben wanders off and disappears while she attempts to check in for a high school reunion. "The Deep End of the Ocean" sustains Beth’s guilt, her sense of loss, and the damaging effects on her husband, Pat, and her older son, Vincent, throughout most of the movie. One’s reaction to the film will probably depend on how closely one identifies with the parents. Having kids of my own, I have had my fair share of gasping moments in public places when I wasn’t conscious of their presence for as little as a second. "The Deep End of the Ocean" clearly addressed these fears and held my attention.

I heard some complaints that "The Deep End of the Ocean" was too much like a TV movie. However, commercial breaks would probably kill the suspense of not knowing what happened to Ben. After denial and a bout of catatonia, Beth earns empathy through her quiet desperation. Her bottled up emotions threaten to erupt at a moment’s notice. The slender thread of family life is stretched to the breaking point. Speculative what if scenarios seem to offer hope but always come up short. Then, quite by accident, years later, Ben walks into their lives. Suddenly all the Capadoras’ imagined hopes and dreams are vanquished. Ben feels no connection to them. A new set of rules go into effect for a son whose memories are part of someone else’s life - and love.

Michele Pfeiffer plays Beth Capadora like a high wire artist walking a thin line between sanity and a breakdown. Life seems to exist just outside her peripheral vision. Any distraction could make her lose her emotional footing. Treat Williams’ Pat wears his pragmatism like a suit of armor. He is Beth’s anchor to the world. He knows how to control anger, treating it like a common cold that will eventually go away. Words like ‘in sickness and in health,’ and ‘till death do us part’ give his life meaning. Sometimes he and Beth go through the motions of being a family just to remind themselves that they are a family. He will be the first person to admit nobody’s perfect. He is convinced things will work out. First and foremost, Pat is a good Catholic family man.

Whoopi Goldberg is effective as the detective who befriends the Capadoras. She’s the outsider who gives their situation objectivity. The kids’ roles are the weak link in "The Deep End of the Ocean." It’s not their fault. The script favors the parents. The best parts of the story are experienced through their relationship. A new daughter fills the void left by Ben’s disappearance at the price of missing the signals of Vincent’s own troubles. He smolders with guilt because he was with Ben at the time of his disappearance. Johnathan Jackson is moody and brooding as the older neglected Vincent. But more often than not, his presence seems more like a plot device designed specifically to create sympathy for the neglectful Beth rather than him. As a result, the performances of Michele Pfeiffer and Treat Williams bear the burden of carrying the film. If you don’t believe them, there is no movie. I believe.