Deep End (Widescreen)

The Deep End is an okay enough movie, mainly due to the style of the film, very reminiscent of the film noirs of the 1950's. The film comes off looking very professional due to the great cinematography of Giles Nuttgens, a hypnotic score by Peter Nashel, and the very fine performances of Tilda Swinton, Jonathan Tucker, and Josh Lucas. Unfortunately for Goran Visnjic and Raymond Barry, their characters were fairly non-sensical and as a consequence I don't think Visnjic had much to work with.

Despite the fine intentions of David Siegel and Scott McGehee to create a modern film noir, the film ultimately fails miserably due to a ridiculous storyline, which no matter how attractive the style, cinematography, and acting may be, a good movie still needs at least a plot that makes a little sense and in which the audience can at least find the motivations and acts of characters as consistent or believable.

There is no rational reason other than stupidity for the Swinton character to cover up an accidental death as if it were a murder, or even manslaughter. She doesn't bother to confront her son, who would have been the main suspect, even though it is quite obvious he doesn't have a clue as to what has occurred. The Visnjic character turns out to be a blackmailer with a heart of gold, which again seems incredulous since blackmailers in film noir are usually incorrigible scum of the earth. The Nagle better fits the mold of a traditional blackmailer, except for the fact that he comes across as a complete idiot, using violence for no rational reason that can be discerned by the audience and incompetently at that. Finally, at the end of the film the Swinton and Visnjic characters declare a platonic love for one another, and I say platonic since the film seems to imply that the Visnjic and Barry characters were lovers.

The film tries to express a kind of loneliness and sexual repression/vulnerability of the Swinton character, but one does not get that feeling watching Swinton perform. One simply sees strong women deeply devoted to her family and leading a fairly full life. To suddenly attempt to suggest otherwise is another example of how the film comes across as inconsistent in the presentation of its characters.

The movie is not a complete waste of time, but since there are so many better films to see, I would not recommend it except for the most serious film buff.

This is a very good, almost shot for shot remake of a 1939 film by Max Ophuls called "The Reckless Moment." Of course some things were changed (instead of the daughter having the offending relationship it is son who happens to be gay), but for the most part it is the same movie, which if you watch the credits to the end the filmmakers acknowledge this. I for one like Ophuls's film better, so if you liked this film I highly recommend "The Reckless Moment," that is if you can find it, it has been out of print for years and it is exceeedingly hard to even find a bootleg copy.

I just recently watched The Deep End and I will say that It was time well spent as well as a piece of fine art. I saw Tilda Swinton in Love Is The Devil and The War Zone and I thoght her acting was great in those movies, however I will say that she does even better in this movie. I have seen Goran Visnjic in the TV series, ER playing a role of one of the doctors and I was surprised to see him in The Deep End meaning that I was completely unaware that he has done a movie project. It was a nice surprise to see him in this movie. I think both of them acted well together in thier roles.

This story is set in Nevada and the scenery is very beautiful. I will also say that the theme, settings, plot and dialogue are excellent in this movie. This movie holds the viewer's attention and the emotions run very high in this movie. One can call this a drama as well as a thriller. There are twists and turns in this movie. I will say this is a definite edge-of-the-seat movie.

Tilda Swinton plays an ordinary, innocent and devoted housewife, Margaret, who is also a very loving Mom will do anything to protect her children no matter what. She lives in a nice comfortable house with her children and father-in-law. Margaret's husband spends a lot of time out of town because of his job. Her house is located next to a lake. Margaret's world is ideal except for one fact, someone in her family has a skeleton in their closet that cannot be revealed at any cost. If this secret is exposed to the certain party, lives can be ruined permanently. Margaret does everything to cover up the skeletons in the closet and the plan works perfectly and the cover up is perfect. She now thinks she can breathe until a shady blackmailer, Alek (Goran Visnjic) from Las Vegas shows up at her house showing concrete proof that he knows her deep dark family secret. He demands an exorbitant sum of cash to keep him from showing his evidence to anyone who this matter would be of concern to. Alek is aware that she will not be able to come up with this amount of cash in such a short time, however he will not relent inspite of her begging and pleading. Margaret tries every legal method to get the money as well as liquidating some of her accounts, however she is on a very strict time limit and she has no luck coming close to the sum of money that has been demanded. Meantime, Alek is harassing the poor lady for the money and stating that he will go to the source that the secret will be useful to. He calls her at all hours and keeps showing up at her house. Nobody is aware of the predicament that Maragaret is in. Alek still won't budge to her pleas. He loves to play the casinoes in Las Vegas and hangs around a crowd of hard core criminals who mean business. The surprises keep coming in the story and the plot keeps thickening. I will not reveal anymore about the actual story in the movie, because I think one needs to watch it to see what happens.

I want to say that both of the main stars in the movie do an excellent job in this movie. Tilda Swinton and Goran Visnjic both mold into their roles very well. Both of them are very convincing in the roles that they play. They actually become their characters in this movie. In Tilsa Swinton's role, the viewer likes Margaret very much and feels sorry for her as well. Goran Visnjic will scare you to a million pieces with his role as a ruthless blackmailer with the mastermind. It is a surprise to see Mr. Visnjic make a transition from a role as a hard working doctor who makes charitable trips to Africa to a role of a potentially dangerous Las Vegas hoodlum. I feel Tilda Swinton and Goran Visnjic shoud have won Oscars for The Deep End. I am glad the movie industry discovered both of these talented stars as I have not seen such fine film acting for several years. I wish I could personally reward both Tida Swinton and Goran Visnjic. I hope to see them in more movies, even if they are not starring together. I just don't know when they are in the movies.

I highly recommend this movie and I will say it is good entertainment as well as a movie that should become a classic as time goes on.