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Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Console best movie i've ever seen.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

p.newhouse@talk21.com Based on a true story, this film uses muted tones to express the story of a family coping when a child goes missing, then struggling even more when he returns suddenly to their lives nine years later, as a twelve-year old. The film benefits greatly from finely crafted, understated performances from Pfeiffer and Williams, as well as the moodiness of Jonathan Jackson as the older brother, Vincent, who is trying bitterly to hold things together. Look out also for Whoopi Goldberg, and for an early appearance by Alexa Vega. Prepare to cry several times during this movie. It packs a real punch, and the performances by Ryan Merriman as the abductee, and John Kapelos as his unsuspecting adoptive father, are truly moving.

triple8 MANY SPOILERS THROUGHOUT POST: This is one time I have to disagree with the majority. I thought Deep End of the ocean was a really good movie. I'm surprised so many don't like it. I found it to be a mature, thought provoking and disturbing drama with excellent performances all around from everybody. The cast actually, were not just good but superb. The movie was not overly long and in the time it ran, I was able to really get a good grasp on all the characters and thought the character development was actually excellent. I was really surprised by the low rating.Many have mentioned how the movie glossed over a lot. I can understand that but the movie wasn't all that long-it didn't really have time to go into everything. And also, I rather liked that the movie stayed fast paced and engrossing without lingering to long on just one thing. A lot of what the characters were feeling were picked up in the various scenes and the story was simply to complicated to go into everything-otherwise it probably would have been about eight hours. Though I really could see this having been a mini series....I think, in a way, Deep End was boxed a little into a corner, if it had gotten to much heavier it may have been labeled manipulative. As it is, the ending was considered to "Hollywood." I actually thought the way it ended was the best possible ending a story such as this could have had. And it was believable to, though throughout the whole thing, I was thinking "joint custody". Although that wasn't exactly the way it was done it was close enough, and I found it a great ending to a very good movie.One other thing I liked was the fact that the story didn't go into never ending tragedy land. By that I mean, none of the main characters are critically injured, , no divorces and custody fights etc etc.... the focus was kept on the individuals and how they dealt with this situation, rather then introducing as many bad things as possible. This played very well as it was a tearjerker in one sense, but also was really thought provoking, and much empathy could be felt for almost everybody from Sam to the natural parents to the adoptive father to the natural brother and sister. All were complex and interesting characters.I'd give this an 8 of 10, I really thought it was very well done and wish it had a somewhat higher rating on here.

MichaelOates "The Deep End Of The Ocean" was a movie that was supposed to bring tears from people's eyes but the director failed to do so and it sunk in the ocean after thirty minutes after it left port. "The Deep End Of The Ocean" stars Treat Williams, Michelle Pfieffer, and Jonathan Jackson. The cast billing is better than the film itself; and that says a lot for the writers and director. I was disappointed in Michelle Pfieffer as it seemed her performance was sub-par and seemed to be at the level of a beginner. "The Deep End Of The Ocean" was based around a kidnapping, no real mystery or suspense to speak of or no real tears came from my face. I mean if the director wants to make a movie surrounding this type of situation I would think that there should be more sentimental moments and cut out the arguments with the child that was kidnapped about what he should and should not do. The only thing that people should bring is a bag so they could put it over their heads to avoid watching it.Treat Williams really is the only actor worth recognizing in this bad mess they call a movie; though, there are good parts in this movie. Williams, your typical villain, plays Pat Cappadora the husband and father who keeps the family together after Ben was kidnapped. When, the mother was near a breakdown it was the father who held everything together and eventually was the one who snapped his wife into reality again. My only other favorite scene occurred between the two brothers.I wouldn't force this film on anyone, though it did have its moments.

bob the moo Beth Cappadora is at a reunion in a hotel when her middle child of three goes missing. At first the search is informal but it grows increasingly frantic and official as they realise that Ben has been taken by somebody. The family never fully recovers and carry the scars for years. Nine years later the family have moved to Chicago to start a new life. When Beth has a local boy come to the block to cut the grass, she believes that he must be Ben because her looks just like him despite the age. The police recover Ben but is it fair to take him away from the people Ben now considers his family?The plot summary gives the impression that this is just a standard weepy that would easily screen on a weekday afternoon. However the presence of a couple of well known names in the cast list suggests that this film will give the subject a more serious approach that acts more as drama than weepy. Partly the latter is true but not 100%, and the film is still essentially a sort of weepy that has a control of it's emotions and is actually quite stable but not to the point where it is an engaging debate.The material should be thought provoking but it isn't really. What I thought would be the main thrust of the film was really just mentioned in the final 20 minutes and it was not only obvious that it was coming but it was quite logically dealt with without real emotion - this is not a `Sophie's Choice' situation but something quite lacking. The start of the film is OK but it deals with the loss too easily and I never got overwhelmed with the emotions the family must feel. Towards the end the film does a good job looking at the effects the whole thing has had on the other son's character but even this lacks an emotional punch.The cast are good on paper but they seem strangely stilted. Pfeiffer is a good actress who sadly doesn't seem to get as much good work as she gets older. Here she tries hard but can't get across what her character must be feeling inside. Williams is an OK support for her and does OK. Jackson is quite good and his character became more interesting to me than the return of Ben itself. Goldberg hangs around but attempts to give her a character through one line of dialogue about her sexuality and security in her job are so out of the blue that I was left wondering where it came from.Overall this is not a weepy because it aims higher than that and doesn't wrench all the emotion out of every scene to get the audience. However it doesn't aim high enough or reach the level where it is emotional or thought provoking, the end result being an interesting film that is a notch above the level of daytime TV weepy but not as worthy or moving as it wants to be.