The Deep End

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amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write("<a href=javascript:popUp('http://buybox.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=reelmoviecriticc&link_code=xsc&creative=23424&camp=2025&path=/dt/assoc/tg/aa/xml/assoc/-/B00005Y4RY/reelmoviecriticc/ref=ac_bb1_,_amazon')><img src=http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/associates/remote-buy-box/buy1.gif border=0 alt='Buy from Amazon.com' ></a>"); document.close(); </script> <noscript> <form method="POST" action="http://buybox.amazon.com/o/dt/assoc/handle-buy-box=B00005Y4RY"> <input type="hidden" name="asin.B00005Y4RY" value="1"> <input type="hidden" name="tag-value" value="reelmoviecriticc"> <input type="hidden" name="tag_value" value="reelmoviecriticc"> <input type="image" name="submit.add-to-cart" value="Buy from Amazon.com" border="0" alt="Buy from Amazon.com" src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/associates/add-to-cart.gif"> </form> </noscript>  </B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>The Deep End ***1/2 ( R )</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By George O. Singleton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="545"><div> Endless emergencies</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Margaret Hall: Tilda Swinton</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Alek Spera: Goran Visnjic</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Beau Hall: Jonathan Tucker</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Nagle: Raymond J. Barry</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Darby: Josh Lucas</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Director: Scott McGehee</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Co-Director: David Siegel</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="304" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: A soccer mom struggles to maintain her daily routine while she deals with a blackmailer threatening to reveal her teenage son's homosexuality and the fact that the son is involved in the death of his lover.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Margaret Hall (Tilda Swinton) serves as the head of the household in the Lake Tahoe waterfront home she shares with her three children and her father-in-law.  Although she is married, her husband is an officer in the Navy who spends extended time away from home. The couple talks from time to time on the telephone, usually with poor connections because of the ship to shore link. They communicate mostly via email with her hunt and peck typing. When Margaret discovers that her oldest son Beau (Jonathan Tucker) is gay, she knows that is not a discussion that anyone in the family is ready to have-especially her husband.</div> <bR> <div> After an automobile accident when 17 year old Beau is driving with his 30-year-old lover Darby (Josh Lucas), Margaret goes to the gay club Darby owns and tells the older man to stay away. His response is "yes" as long as there is a $50,000 payment. Darby is a hustler and when he comes to see Beau at his home, they get into an argument and Margaret finds Darby's body the next morning on the beach. Thinking that her son could be charged in the death is a major downside before even considering the scandal in and out of the family about him being gay. There is only one thing to do-dump the body in the lake. Her view is that this situation has no upside so she must act now and decisively to prevent the downside. </div> <bR> <div> The success of her plan is touch and go, but it looks like things will work out until Alek Spera (Goran Visnjic) arrives demanding $50,000 in blackmail money. The body has been found and he has a videotape of Darby and Beau in bed together, he knows that it would not look good for Beau if the tape were made public. </div> <bR> <div> Margaret tries to raise the money while keeping the household routine going; taking her younger boy to soccer practice, her daughter to ballet lessons and helping get Beau into one of the better universities to pursue a career in instrumental music. Margaret is able to juggle all the balls but she has difficulty raising the money within the 24-hour window that she is given.</div> <bR> <div> Things take a major turn when her father-in-law becomes ill during a visit by Alek.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: Tilda Swinton gives such a strong performance that the holes in the plot don't matter that much. It's part neo noir (film noir updated), with the mystery of ordinary lives dictated by extraordinary circumstances.</div> <bR> <div> Nagle  (Raymond J. Barry) is the petty crime boss that is pushing Alex to be an effective bagman. Alek and Margaret develop a very unusual love/hate relationship as they both begin to understand the world that the other inhabits. The transformation that Margaret goes through is somewhat more believable than the one that Alek experiences. This point is one of the factors that keeps <I><B>The Deep End</B></I> from being a four star movie.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>The Deep End</B></I> is a marvelously told story, revealing how Margaret takes certain actions because of what she <I>thinks</I> happened between Beau and Darby. Later on as Beau sees his mother spending a lot of time with Alek, he begins to suspect a love affair. Later his suspicions are confirmed when it appears there has been a lover's quarrel that resulted in Margaret's lip being torn open. The beauty of the story is that it forces you to consider that sometimes you can strongly suspect something is a fact-and it is not. At times you are better coming to live with those suspicions and moving on rather than to having to <I>know</I> the truth and not letting go until you do. </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> R  (some violence and language and for a strong sex scene)</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> George O. Singleton © 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Tilda Swinton: The Beach</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Goran Visnjic: ER-TV</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Jonathan Tucker: <I><B>The Virgin Suicides</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Raymond J. Barry: <I><B>Training Day</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Josh Lucas: <I><B>You Can Count on Me</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Scott McGehee: Suture</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> David Siegel: Suture</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="286" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>