''The Deep End of the Ocean'' is a 1999 American
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Ulu Grosbard
Israel "Ulu" Grosbard (9 January 1929 – 19 March 2012) was a Belgian-born, naturalized American theatre and film director and film producer.
Life and career
Born in Antwerp, Grosbard was the son of Rose (Tenenbaum) and Morris Grosbard, who wo ...
, and starring
Michelle Pfeiffer,
Treat Williams
Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor, writer and aviator who has appeared on film, stage and television in over 120 credits. He first became well known for his starring role in the 1979 musical film '' Hair'', and la ...
,
Jonathan Jackson,
John Kapelos
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, and
Whoopi Goldberg
Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...
. It is based on the
1996 novel of the same name by
Jacquelyn Mitchard
Jacquelyn Mitchard is an American journalist and author. She is the author of the best-selling novel ''The Deep End of the Ocean'', which was the first selection for Oprah's Book Club, on September 17, 1996.Kirkpatrick, David D. - "Oprah Will Cur ...
, a bestseller that was the very first novel selected by
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...
to be discussed on ''
Oprah's Book Club
Oprah's Book Club was a book discussion club segment of the United States, American talk show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey started the book club in 1996, selecting a new book, usually a nov ...
'' in 1996. The film tells the story of a family’s reaction, when Ben, the youngest son is kidnapped and then found nine years later, living in the same town where his family had just moved. The film was released in theaters on March 12, 1999 by Columbia Pictures, and was a box office flop, grossing $28 million worldwide.
Plot
During her high school reunion in a crowded hotel lobby, Beth Cappadora's 3-year-old son Ben vanishes. Police are called to the scene as a frantic search begins but it is unsuccessful, and Beth experiences a
nervous breakdown
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
. Unable to cope with her devastation, she unintentionally neglects her other children, Vincent and Kerry.
After nine years, the Cappadora family has seemingly accepted that Ben has gone forever, when a familiar-looking boy turns up at their new house, offering to mow their lawn. He introduces himself as Sam, but Beth becomes convinced that he is actually Ben, and begins an investigation.
Beth discovers Ben was kidnapped at the reunion by Cecil Lockhart, a mentally unstable woman who was an old classmate of Beth's. She brought Ben up as her child, until she later took her own life.
The attempted reintegration of Sam/Ben back into the Cappadora family produces painful results for everyone, so Beth and her husband Pat eventually decide to return him to his adoptive father.
One night, Vincent leaves the house and Beth later wakes up to a phone call at 4:22 am to be told he is in jail. Beth and Pat discuss his erratic behavior with Candy Bliss, a detective in Ben's case who became a family friend, and Candy reassures Beth that Vincent loves her. They eventually reconcile their relationship, but while Vincent is in jail, Beth and Pat develop relationship problems after continuous arguments, and they start sleeping in separate beds.
Days later, Sam turns up at the jail and reveals he has remembered something from before his abduction; he was playing hide and seek with Vincent and got stuck in a trunk, but Vincent found him, which made him feel safe.
Pat later bails Vincent out of jail and, one night, finds him playing basketball outside with Sam. Vincent, who has carried guilt for not watching Ben at the reunion, letting go of his hand and telling him to get lost, is forgiven by Sam/Ben, who says that he has decided to go back to living with his blood family. But he first plays a game of basketball with his brother, and the loser gets to carry Sam’s remarkably heavy suitcase into the house.
Beth and Pat, reconciled, watch from the living room window.
Cast
*
Michelle Pfeiffer as Beth Cappadora
*
Treat Williams
Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor, writer and aviator who has appeared on film, stage and television in over 120 credits. He first became well known for his starring role in the 1979 musical film '' Hair'', and la ...
as Pat Cappadora
*
Whoopi Goldberg
Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...
as Detective Candace "Candy" Bliss
*
Jonathan Jackson as Vincent Cappadora - Age 16
**Cory Buck as Vincent Cappadora - Age 7
*
Ryan Merriman
Ryan Earl Merriman (born April 10, 1983) is an American actor. He began his career at the age of ten and has appeared in several feature films and television shows. He is best known for a handful of Disney Channel original movies and for portr ...
as Benjamin Cappadora/Sam Karras - Age 12
**Michael McElroy as Benjamin Cappadora - Age 3
*
Alexa Vega
Alexa Ellesse PenaVega (née Vega; born August 27, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Carmen Cortez in the ''Spy Kids'' film series and Julie Corky in the 2004 film ''Sleepover''. In 2009, she starred as the ...
as Kerry Cappadora - Age 9
*
Michael McGrady
Michael Steven McGrady (born March 30, 1960) is an American theater, film and television actor. He is known for playing Tom Matthews in Beyond. He is also an artist.
Life and work
McGrady was born in Federal Way, Washington, to Gloria, a hair ...
as Jimmy Daugherty
*
Brenda Strong
Brenda Lee Strong (born March 25, 1960) is an American actress. She began her career in television, including guest starring appearances in ''Twin Peaks'', '' Party of Five'', ''Seinfeld'', '' Scandal'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', '' ...
as Ellen, Beth's high school classmate
*
Tony Musante
Anthony Peter Musante Jr. (June 30, 1936 – November 26, 2013) was an American actor, best known for the TV series '' Toma'' as Detective David Toma, Nino Schibetta in '' Oz'' (1997), and Joe D'Angelo in ''As the World Turns'' (2000-2003). In mo ...
as Grandpa Angelo Cappadora
*
Rose Gregorio
Rose Gregorio (born October 17, 1934) is an American actress. She began her career appearing mostly in theatre in Chicago and New York City during the 1950s and 1960s. During the 1970s she became more active in television and film, appearing most ...
as Grandma Rosie Cappadora
*
John Kapelos
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
as George Karras, Cecilia's husband
*
Lucinda Jenney
Lucinda Jenney (born April 23, 1954) is an American actress.
Early life
Jenney was born in Long Island City in 1954.
Career
She began her acting career in 1979 with the film ''Impostors''. Several roles followed throughout the 1980s, with ap ...
as Laurie
*
John Roselius
John Roselius (August 19, 1944 - October 29, 2018) was an American film and television actor. He appeared in numerous films, guest starred on many TV shows, and was the principal actor in over 200 television commercials.
He starred in the famed ...
as Chief Bastokovich
*
Robert Cicchini
Robert Cicchini is an American film and television actor and director.
Among Cicchini's film appearances are his roles as Lou Pennino, Vincent Corleone's bodyguard, in ''The Godfather Part III'' (1990), Bill Guidone in ''Light Sleeper'' (1992 ...
as Uncle Joey
Production
According to a small behind-the-scenes booklet featured on the DVD release, the film began production on October 27, 1997 and was predominantly shot in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...
was considered for the role of Det. Candace "Candy" Bliss before
Whoopi Goldberg
Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...
was cast. Coincidentally, the novel in which this movie is based was the very first book selected by Winfrey to be discussed on ''
Oprah's Book Club
Oprah's Book Club was a book discussion club segment of the United States, American talk show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey started the book club in 1996, selecting a new book, usually a nov ...
'' in 1996.
Alternate ending and re-shoots
A different ending was filmed which tested poorly with audiences who felt it was too grim. Despite being the original ending of the book, not to mention
Michelle Pfeiffer's preferred ending, the studio opted for the more conventional happy ending. Extensive rewrites and re-shoots caused the film to be delayed from its planned fall 1998 release to spring of 1999.
Release
The film was theatrically released on March 12, 1999.
Reception
''The Deep End of the Ocean'' holds a rating of 43% on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, and a score of 45 on
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, indicating mixed reviews.
In ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'',
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
praised the director and lead actress but criticised the music: "With a fine, impassioned performance from
Michelle Pfeiffer as the story's raw-nerved heroine, the film moves beyond the detective-story aspects of its material to concentrate on what kind of shock waves batter a family after an event like this...
Grosbard mercifully avoids melodrama. And he paces the film so simply and determinedly that its early scenes are like a string of picture postcards, each one depicting a new phase of the family's ordeal. Only when the film seeks tidy resolution for a tangled set of problems does this restraint seem overwhelmed by the complexity of the situation. But the only real false notes are musical ones, from a score by
Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...
that turns familiar and trite when the film does not."
In ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'',
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy is an American film critic and professor who has taught at Columbia University, New School for Social Research, Wellesley College, Arizona State University and UCLA Film School. Levy currently teaches in the department of cinema ...
praised all aspects of the film: "
Michelle Pfeiffer and
Treat Williams
Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor, writer and aviator who has appeared on film, stage and television in over 120 credits. He first became well known for his starring role in the 1979 musical film '' Hair'', and la ...
give such magnetic performances that they elevate the film way above its middlebrow sensibility and proclivity for neat resolutions... In the first reel, Pfeiffer is brilliant as an anxious mother consumed with finding her lost son. Dominating scene after scene, she conveys anguish and guilt in an all-out performance that ranks with her best... Coming from the theater,
Grosbard has always coaxed strong performances from his handpicked casts, but ''Deep Ends technical sheen places this outing at the top of his oeuvre.
Stephen Goldblatt
Stephen Goldblatt, A.S.C., B.S.C. (born 29 April 1945) is a South African-born British cinematographer, noted for his work on numerous high-profile action films, including the first two entries in the ''Lethal Weapon'' series, as well as fo ...
's clean lensing,
Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...
's evocative score, Dan Davis' crafty production design, Susie DeSanto's authentic costumes and, particularly, John Bloom's fluent editing serve as models for efficient storytelling, representing mainstream cinema at its best."
In the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
'', Edward Guthmann commended Pfeiffer and Jackson but was ultimately unimpressed: "
Pfeiffer, who segued into mother roles in her past two films, ''
One Fine Day'' and ''
A Thousand Acres
''A Thousand Acres'' is a 1991 novel by American author Jane Smiley. It won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1991 and was adapted to a 1997 film of the same name. It was premiered as an ...
'', brings heart and soul to this domestic melodrama, but it's not enough. ''The Deep End of the Ocean'' has nothing but the noblest of intentions, and
Grosbard's direction is meticulous, sober and tasteful, but the movie is so deliberate, so enervated that you feel as if you're watching it through glass... In a difficult role that he doesn't quite pull off,
Ryan Merriman
Ryan Earl Merriman (born April 10, 1983) is an American actor. He began his career at the age of ten and has appeared in several feature films and television shows. He is best known for a handful of Disney Channel original movies and for portr ...
plays Sam, the 12-year-old whose allegiance is split between two homes. As his damaged older brother,
Jonathan Jackson brings such confidence, maturity and self-possession that he seems to belong in another movie. And
Whoopi Goldberg
Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...
- all-purpose, you-got-a-part-I'll-play-it Whoopi - shows up as a helpful detective named Candy Bliss."
In ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'',
Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
held a similar view: "''The Deep End of the Ocean'', from
Jacquelyn Mitchard
Jacquelyn Mitchard is an American journalist and author. She is the author of the best-selling novel ''The Deep End of the Ocean'', which was the first selection for Oprah's Book Club, on September 17, 1996.Kirkpatrick, David D. - "Oprah Will Cur ...
's best-selling novel about parents who find their lost son nine years after his abduction, benefits from a customarily fine performance by
Michelle Pfeiffer as the boy's mother.
Treat Williams
Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor, writer and aviator who has appeared on film, stage and television in over 120 credits. He first became well known for his starring role in the 1979 musical film '' Hair'', and la ...
excels as the husband, as does
Whoopi Goldberg
Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...
, a detective who helps the parents in their search. Director
Ulu Grosbard
Israel "Ulu" Grosbard (9 January 1929 – 19 March 2012) was a Belgian-born, naturalized American theatre and film director and film producer.
Life and career
Born in Antwerp, Grosbard was the son of Rose (Tenenbaum) and Morris Grosbard, who wo ...
(''
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
'') and screenwriter
Stephen Schiff (''
Lolita
''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...
'') commendably try to avoid the usual kidnapping clichés in favor of family dynamics, but the film ultimately gives in to a case of TV-movie blahs."
In ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'', Michael Sauter also found the lead performances superior to the film as a whole: "The first half of this drama, with
Pfeiffer and
Williams as parents whose 3-year-old son vanishes, is almost unbearably wrenching... Far less effective, however, is the rest of the story, set nine years later, when the boy resurfaces... But if the film was less than satisfying as a big-screen event, it's still worth renting for Pfeiffer, who valiantly portrays the devastating complexities of grief and guilt."
Two extremely negative reviews came from
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
in the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' and
Desson Howe
Desson Patrick Thomson is a former speechwriter for the Obama administration and former film critic for ''The Washington Post''. He was known as Desson Howe until 2003 when he changed his name after reuniting with his birth father.
Biography
...
in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. Ebert wrote that "
Ulu Grosbard
Israel "Ulu" Grosbard (9 January 1929 – 19 March 2012) was a Belgian-born, naturalized American theatre and film director and film producer.
Life and career
Born in Antwerp, Grosbard was the son of Rose (Tenenbaum) and Morris Grosbard, who wo ...
's ''The Deep End of the Ocean'' is a painfully stolid movie that lumbers past emotional issues like a wrestler in a cafeteria line, putting a little of everything on his plate. It provides big roles for
Michelle Pfeiffer and
Treat Williams
Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor, writer and aviator who has appeared on film, stage and television in over 120 credits. He first became well known for his starring role in the 1979 musical film '' Hair'', and la ...
, but doesn't provide them with the screenplay support they need; the result is that awkwardness when characters express emotions that the audience doesn't share." Howe described the "moments in ''The Deep End of the Ocean'' that will break your heart. After all, the movie – based on
Jacquelyn Mitchard
Jacquelyn Mitchard is an American journalist and author. She is the author of the best-selling novel ''The Deep End of the Ocean'', which was the first selection for Oprah's Book Club, on September 17, 1996.Kirkpatrick, David D. - "Oprah Will Cur ...
's novel – is about losing a child. This is, essentially, emotional blackmail for anyone with a family. Two hundred monkeys fighting over one word processor could make you cry over material like that. Yet producer/star
Michelle Pfeiffer, director
Ulu Grosbard
Israel "Ulu" Grosbard (9 January 1929 – 19 March 2012) was a Belgian-born, naturalized American theatre and film director and film producer.
Life and career
Born in Antwerp, Grosbard was the son of Rose (Tenenbaum) and Morris Grosbard, who wo ...
and scriptwriter
Stephen Schiff still mess things up. Apart from the previously mentioned occasions, and nice performances from
Jonathan Jackson and
Ryan Merriman
Ryan Earl Merriman (born April 10, 1983) is an American actor. He began his career at the age of ten and has appeared in several feature films and television shows. He is best known for a handful of Disney Channel original movies and for portr ...
, the movie's a floating longboat that ought to be ignited and pushed out to sea, Viking style."
Music
Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...
's original score to ''The Deep End of the Ocean'' was released in 1999 by
Milan Records
Milan Records is a record label located in Los Angeles, California specializing in film scores and soundtrack albums. In addition, Milan boasts an extensive electronic catalog which features down-tempo, chillout, and eclectic electronic releases ...
.
Track listing
#Main Title - 5:10
#Brothers - 2:33
#Sam is Lost - 3:59
#Home Again - 4:13
#Photographs - 2:24
#Cecil - 2:25
#Giving Back - 3:05
#Reunion - 3:06
#End Credits - 3:08
Awards and nominations
Ryan Merriman
Ryan Earl Merriman (born April 10, 1983) is an American actor. He began his career at the age of ten and has appeared in several feature films and television shows. He is best known for a handful of Disney Channel original movies and for portr ...
won a
Young Artist Award
The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...
for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deep End Of The Ocean
1999 films
1999 drama films
American drama films
Columbia Pictures films
Films scored by Elmer Bernstein
Films about child abduction in the United States
Films about dysfunctional families
Class reunions in popular culture
Films based on American novels
Films directed by Ulu Grosbard
Films shot in Chicago
Films set in Chicago
Mandalay Pictures films
Films about mother–son relationships
1990s English-language films
1990s American films