Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Treat Williams, Jonathan Jackson, Ryan Merriman, John Kapelos, Whoopi Goldberg, Lucinda Jenney
Director: Ulu Grosbard
Producers: Kate Guinzberg, Michelle Pfeiffer
Screenplay: Stephen Schiff based on the novel by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt
Music: Elmer Bernstein
U.S. Distributor: Columbia Pictures
There was a time when Reader's Digest Condensed Books were popular. By editing out "extraneous" passages from lengthy novels, they reduced them to their bare, no-frills essentials. A 500-page epic became a 200-page quick read. The philosophy that gave rise to these abridgements is much in evidence in the movie version of The Deep End of the Ocean, a 108-minute adaptation of Jacquelyn Mitchard's novel. This film strips out the basic plot elements and presents them, disjointed and disconnected, for consumption by those of us who don't have the 10 hours necessary to peruse the book. Not surprisingly, the experience of watching the movie is about as satisfying as reading an outline.
The ads for this film have been trumpeting Michelle Pfeiffer's performance without saying much about the quality of the overall production. There's a reason for this: Pfeiffer is indeed superlative, but The Deep End of the Ocean is disappointing. The film is lacking in three distinct areas: character development, relationship building, and dramatic tension. It's something of a letdown from director Ulu Grosbard, whose previous effort was 1995's Georgia, a finely honed examination of the intricate relationship between two dissimilar sisters.
The Deep End of the Ocean opens in 1988. Beth Cappadora (Pfeiffer) has taken her three children, 7-year old Vincent (Cory Buck), 3-year old Ben (Michael McElroy), and infant Kerry, to Chicago for her 15th high school reunion. In the crowded lobby of a hotel, Ben disappears. At first, Beth is calm, but, when a quick search fails to locate Ben, she begins to panic. The police, led by Detective Candy Bliss (Whoopi Goldberg), arrive, as does Beth's husband, Pat (Treat Williams). All efforts, however, are futile. Ben is missing, and after six weeks, a dejected and despondent Beth returns home to Madison, Wisconsin, where she tries to put together the pieces of her life.
Eight years later, Beth, Pat, Vincent (now played by Jonathan Jackson), and Kerry (Alexa Vega) are living in Chicago, where Pat has just opened Cappadora's Restaurant. One day, a 12-year old boy named Sam (Ryan Merriman) shows up at Beth's door, wondering if she's looking for someone to mow her lawn. She immediately recognizes him as the missing Ben. A subsequent police investigation proves that he is Beth's son, and a court order allows the Cappadoras to take him away from George Karras (John Kapelos), the man Sam accepts as his father. George is innocent of wrongdoing; his dead wife kidnapped Ben before she met George. But his lack of culpability is irrelevant as events throw six lives into turmoil.
With this film, I'm in an odd position. In review after review, I have been deriding movies for running too long. Here, the reverse is true. The Deep End of the Ocean would almost certainly have benefited from an extra 20 to 30 minutes of screen time. As it stands, the production feels rushed. We are shuffled from scene-to-scene without being given ample opportunity to relate to the characters or their circumstances. Aside from Beth, no one is allowed to grow beyond the two-dimensional constraints demanded by the thin script. There are isolated moments when Pat, Vincent, and Sam become real, but the film doesn't build upon those instances. In the next scene, we're back to wondering about their motivations. Relationships are handled equally poorly. The necessary complexity of how these characters interact with each other is largely absent. Grosbard has decided to use a kind of cinematic shorthand to detail almost every relationship (for example, Pat is sleeping on the sofa - therefore, he and Beth are experiencing marriage difficulties). As a result, we have trouble buying into the convoluted family dynamic presented here.
The Deep End of the Ocean raises a host of interesting questions, but it does a poor job of exploring them. Is it better for Sam to remain with the man he has known as "Father" or to be returned to his biological family? What is the adopted father's rights? What are Beth and Pat's rights? Does Sam's return assuage or exacerbate Vincent's guilt (the older brother felt responsible for his sibling's disappearance)? The movie toys with these issues (and a few more), but, soon after each is raised, it is tossed aside as the narrative steamrolls on to something new. The ending, which wraps everything up in a neat little bundle, is especially distressing.
Even the uneven, haphazard nature of the storyline can't obfuscate the strength of Michelle Pfeiffer's performance. Her interpretation of Beth represents some of the best work of her career - it's unfortunate that it didn't come in a better picture. Pfeiffer makes us experience her character's emotions on a visceral level: her guilt over losing Ben, her obsession with locating him, and her dilemma once she has found him again - to do what's best for him or to cling to the child she lost. There's no doubt that the actress brings more to this role than is found in the sparse script. She is ably supported by Treat Williams, Jonathan Jackson (of TV's "General Hospital"), and Whoopi Goldberg, but, while all of them have their moments, they don't take command of the screen in the way Pfeiffer does. She elevates the movie to a level that the screenplay is incapable of doing.
Grosbard has chosen to fashion The Deep End of the Ocean as a surprisingly low-key affair. Sure, it's a melodrama, but the manipulation isn't layered on too thickly. The film is not developed as a relentless tear-jerker, and its somewhat austere nature may disappoint those who are hoping to use up a box of Kleenexes. Ultimately, however, it's difficult to weep when events are passing by at breakneck speed. Effective melodramas take the time to allow viewers to reflect and consider; The Deep End of the Ocean is paced more like an action movie than a drama, and, when a pause finally occurs at the end credits, we realize that it hasn't been an altogether satisfying ride.
© 1999 James Berardinelli