Rating: 
Summary: Intense, enveloping, gorgeous
Review: I saw the movie "The Deep End" yesterday and it was just stunning- probably one of the most beautiful, perfect films I have seen. It was intense, tragic, and provocative. The whole film takes place around water, and the colors of the film seems bathed in blue. I just can't describe how much I loved everything about it- the characters, the scenery, the pacing... Tilda Swinton, who played the main character in this movie, was breathtaking. I haven't been as inspired by a performance since I saw Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth", and those of you who have known me for a while understand just how blown away I was by Swinton. Why isn't she in a million films?! I'm reading a lot of personal reviews on the internet and it seems like most people don't agree with my glowing review of "The Deep End", which is a shame. Even thought the critics tended to really like it, more films like it won't be made unless the audience responds well. I guess it requires some patience to watch, although to me the film just flew by. You are required to believe in the character's desperation and love for her child, which is what drives the movie. I can't believe people this film isn't resonating more with people who have children. I don't, but I could actually feel the fierce nature of a mother's - and the fact she would do *anything* to protect her child from harm. If you have a chance, go see it. Even with all that is going on in my life, I was enveloped in this movie. I just lost track of everything else and just got absorbed in it- the colors, the sounds, the emotions, the intensity.
Rating:
Summary: Subtle and simply fabulous...
Review: As a fan of Tilda Swinton and Goran Visnjic this film was one of my few "must see movies," and I was not disappointed. I found all of the characters to be immensely plausible, and I found the plot to be immensely plausible as well in spite of criticism to the contrary. Visnjic and Swinton are riveting. They are almost a throw back to the silent film era regarding their subtle and complex utilization of expression and body control. Their silences are deafening. If you enjoy sophisticated suspense, and if you are willing to place yourself in their very adept hands, this film will not let you go.
Rating: 
Summary: The Deep End
Review: The movie had a great foundation but was lost in stupidity. I ended up hating the stupid control freak mother, vapid grandfather, puny hit henchman...; What little scenery I saw was great. All through the movie, I wanted to slap most of the characters, especially the mother and tell her to wake up and get real. The only real characters were the son's lover, the little kids, and the money-grubbing really bad guy. She hadn't the guts to tell the naval operator that her call was an emergency just to get through to her husband so he could help her do his job in raising the kids (no wonder he was on a destroyer). I could have done a better job in writing this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Recommended
Review: "The Deep End" is deceptively complex. At first it may seem contrived, even preposterous, but if you're willing to look beneath the surface of the plot (and it seems too few movie-goers are nowadays), you'll be rewarded with rich themes and thoroughly unexpected - but entirely plausible - character nuances. I won't go into my own subjective interpretation here, but I will defend this movie against reactionary criticism. Namely, this movie is not homophobic. The main character, however, is. This isn't readily apparent, because in all other aspects she's enormously sympathetic. How she becomes aware of her own flaw, and how she learns to face it - without a single overt reference to it in the dialogue - is one of the main themes in this film. And kudos to filmmakers Siegel and McGehee and especially Tilda Swinton for portraying such a character as a warts-and-all human being, and for trusting audiences (perhaps mistakenly) to be smart enough to recognize and appreciate such subtlety. If you go see this movie, be sure to take your brain with you as it will significantly enhance your viewing experience.
Rating:
Summary: A Mom's Gotta Do What a Mom's Gotta do
Review: If someone had asked me who I thought should play the mother-in-peril role of Margaret Hall in "The Deep End" I would not have listed Tilda Swinton who heretofore has made a career of playing far-out characters as in "Orlando" in which she played both a man and a woman whose lives evolve over the course of several hundred years. Be thankful I wasn't asked, for Tilda Swinton gives the performance of her lifetime in this film directed by the duo of David Seigel and Scott McGehee. Set in the Lake Tahoe/Reno area, the plot of "Deep End" is straight out of film noir and as such usually doesn't allow for much in the way of delving into a characters personality or psychology. All the chracters in a film noir are archetypes: cool blond Grace Kelly in "Dial M for Murder" or Robert Mitchum as the tough, hard-drinking detective in "D.O.A." Seigel/McGehee use the film noir tradition as a jumping off point and layer on the shadings and angles that can make a movie character "pop" as personified in the Alek Spera role played with an uncanny combination of danger, empathy and sympathy by Goran Visnjic (T.V.'s "ER"). Visnjic is a revelation is this role. Notice how with just a slight eye or face movement he can transmit a multitude of emotions. Great film actors use their faces to tell their stories. Spera approaches Hall the first time to blackmail her for $50,000 over a sex tape that his boss, Carlie Nagel has in his possession. Smudging the bad guy/blackmailer image to the hilt, Spera quickly becomes attached to Hall and her family with surprising results that I will not reveal here. What does transpire is that Visnjic and Swinton are such multi-faceted and complex characters involved in a many layered situation that you can't help but be fascinated by the whole enterprise. If I had to make one small gripe it would be about the character of Darby Reese, a bar owner played by Josh Lucas. This guy is strictly out of the Simon Legree mold of villian what with his pencil mustache and toothy sneer. It's as if he belongs in another movie altogether. But this is a minor mis-step in what is a terrific movie. Bravo to all involved.
Rating:
Summary: A return to the cinema of repression
Review: Hyped as a noir-ish look at a mother's struggle to protect her gay son, The Deep End ushers viewers back to a repressive era of cinema where same-sex love was sleazy and destructive, the ideal stuff for the "thrilling" blackmail that drives the plot. Nominally a remake of Max Ophul's "The Reckless Moment," "The Deep End" also owes a heavy debt, in tenor at least, to that masterpiece of gay shame, "The Victim." Suffice to say this is the kind of film that presupposes whenever two men have sex, a third, ipso facto, must be there with a video camera. There is a certain fascination in watching Tilda Swinton do whatever it takes to make sure she and her family don't have to talk about the love that dare not speak its name while maintaining the order of her oppressive, regimented, uptight world -- a world that no doubt sent sonny boy off looking for an alcoholic, abusive chicken hawk/extortionist to cuddle up to in the first place. And yet for all of her Herculean efforts to dispose of bodies, cars and lowlife thugs, she can't manage to get past her son's hurt and confusion to talk about "it." If this is the parenting model for the new millennium, who needs it! The movie's centerpiece -- Tilda Swinton's performance -- proves yet again that she has raised the staring-blankly-into-the-camera school of acting into a semi-art. At least all the water looked refreshing.
Rating:
Summary: Mom has a really bad hair week
Review: Finally, for the year 2001, we have an intelligent thriller that doesn't involve futuristic apes, a too-cute humanoid, or waves of pesky bombers attacking a love triangle. And it was almost certainly produced on an infinitely smaller budget. THE DEEP END stars Tilda Swinton as Margaret Hall, the mother heading a family of five (herself, two sons, daughter, father-in-law) while hubby is off doing Guy Stuff - commanding an aircraft carrier at sea. As mothers sometimes do, she discovers that her oldest son Beau (played by Jonathan Tucker) has become pals with an older man who's exerting a really bad influence. The plot quickly thickens as Beau's new bud shows up in the middle of the night at the Hall's shorefront home on Lake Tahoe and, without anybody knowing, gets himself killed on the property in an accident so silly it/s almost funny. Margaret discovers the corpse the next morning. Not wishing to have her son involved in a potentially scandalous police investigation that will hurt his chances of getting admitted to a hoity-toity college, she hides the body in the lake. Of course, the body is soon found, but the cops don't have a clue. Then the sleazy blackmailer Alek (played by Goran Visnjic) shows up with a videotape of ... well, you'll see. Even though I don't live in a vacuum, I've never heard of the principal actors in this splendid suspense drama. Swinton is positively riveting as the harassed Mom trying to keep control of downward spiraling events before the Good Life goes to Hades in a handbasket. Tucker is infuriatingly good as the son who just doesn't 'get it'. Best of all, the character of Alek is the biggest surprise of the storyline. And, the film is photographed in one of the true garden spots of California/Nevada. It shows what the Good Life can be if one is allowed to enjoy it. In this excellent summer drama, poor Margaret doesn't have the chance. I exceptionally enjoyed an advance screening of this film. Though it'll likely be released to only a few theaters, see it if you have the chance.
Rating:
Summary: A Little-Known Gem
Review: Usually, when you hear constant positive buzz about a film, it tends to let you down. I felt that way about "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "The English Patient". So when I kept reading glowing reviews of "The Deep End", I was hesitant to fall for them. I expected it to be another disappointment. I was wrong. Ably directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, "The Deep End" is a lovely, atmospheric, domestic drama about the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her son. When Margaret Hall (Tilda Swinton, in a fine performance) finds the body of her teenage son's lover on the beach by her home, she reacts by dumping the body in the lake, and not telling anyone about it. Soon, a dark, brooding man named Alek Spera (Goran Visnjic) appears, demanding money in exchange for a tape showing Margaret's son and the dead man. From there, "The Deep End" takes many twists and turns (some believable, some a bit contrived). Yet, it is essentially a simple tale, about the love between a mother and a son. Tilda Swinton deserved an Oscar nomination for her haunting portrayal of a desperate mother. Everything about "The Deep End" is wonderful, from the cinematography (Lake Tahoe has never looked so beautiful), to the music and performances. This is one of those films that are little-known, but worth digging up. It is rewarding to experience.
Rating:
Summary: A rare suspense film of subtlety and depth
Review: The Deep End is one of my top ten favourite films of 2001. This moody, suspenseful and very intelligent suspense drama about a mother who finds herself in a terrifying situation with a couple of blackmailers is told with great subtletly and superb style.
Criticised by some as being logic free, I dont disagree that some plot turns are flawed (eg anyone disposing of a body would not do so in such shallow water. Why did the blackmailers presume that the main character could come up with $50,000.00 in less than 24 hours? etc)but the taut, effortless direction, inspired casting, elegant cinematography and surprising emotional depth make The Deep End a superior and absorbing tale with characters who are truly complex and interesting to watch.
The terrific performances only enhance the enjoyment as Tilda Swinton gives a masterly, fresh portrayal as Margaret Hall, a good, dedicated mother who will do anything for her children and Goran Visnijic who adds a real humanity to his role of Alex Spera, a initially cold hearted blackmailer whose conscious starts to kick in when he fully realises what he is doing to Margaret and her family. Supporting actors are also solid and Raymond Barry is convincingly menacing in his two scenes as Spera's more vicious crime partner.
Oh, and Lake Tahoe looks absolutely stunning, a unique and extremely effective backdrop for this film' story. Excellent.
Rating:
Summary: A MOTHER'S LOVE
Review: Ultimately THE DEEP END is about a mother's love...what she will do to protect her son, her family and their lives. Tilda Swinton is excellent as Margaret Hall, a normal everyday housewife who juggles the usual maternal duties effectively, while her naval officer husband is out to sea. Jonathan Tucker plays her son, Beau, who she discovers has been hanging out with an older guy at a gay club, and she asks the man to stop seeing her son. Once the son finds out, though, he resents his mom's interference, and meets with his lover secretly in their boat house. However, circumstances result in an altercation, and Beau runs off leaving a staggering boyfriend behind, who...well, I won't spoil it for people who haven't seen the movie.
Tucker is effective as the closeted son, and Peter Donat does a nice turn as the children's grandfather. Raymond J. Barry again turns in a creepy performance (see BEST MEN for more) as a blackmailer who plans to expose Beau's secret unless Tilda comes up with fifty thousand bucks. His partner is played by Goren Visjnic (ER, Spartacus, Practical Magic), who finds himself sympathetic to his victim's plight. Visjnic is certainly a handsome gentleman, but his performance is weak in a pivotal role; his accent doesn't help, either. But due to Swinton's perfectly controlled performance, the movie doesn't cave in because of Visjnic.
There's some beautiful scenery and neat directorial touches, such as the drop of water through which we see Swinton enter the house and the neat fade from the real mountains of Lake Tahoe to the fake ones at a performance of Swan Lake.
A very good movie, with an outstanding performance.
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