Revisiting and celebrating the work of Michelle Pfeiffer, the best actress of my lifetime.
The Deep End of the Ocean premiered twenty years ago today. As a Michelle Pfeiffer super pfan, this one's always brought up conflicting emotions in me. The movie, written by Stephen Schiff and directed by Ulu Grosbard is just mediocre, and that might be a kind assessment. It has a decidedly "Forgettable TV Movie of the Week" fee, and there's a gaping disconnect between Pfeiffer's performance and the rest of the film. On the positive side, it serves as the one of the best examples of how, over the course of her career, she's consistently worked wonders when faced with scripts of inconsistent quality (see also: Personal Effects).
Pfeiffer plays Beth Cappadora, a mother of three whose three year old son is kidnapped, only to reappear nine years later. The film explores the immediate trauma of losing a child to abduction, and then imagines how hard it would be to discover your son was still alive but hardly had any memories left of you. The abduction scene, staged in an overcrowded, bustling hotel lobby, is absolutely crushing, all because of Pfeiffer's escalating panic—and, I might add, not something you want to rewatch after becoming a parent. Trust me, I still haven't recovered. She then expertly moves us through a mother's guilt—she was the parent responsible for watching the children that day—and then the ensuing grief and suffocating depression that never goes away.
Every time I've watched Deep End (based on the very first Oprah's Book Club pick, and written by Jacquelyn Mitchard), I've wanted to love it, but instead wind up wishing for a better film and more memorable supporting performances around Pfeiffer. Even Treat Williams, a solid, veteran actor, is only intermittently believable or affecting as Beth's husband. He's also lost a child, and he too struggles to readjust after their son returns, but none of it hits with the same blunt force as Beth's journey. That's because Pfeiffer really burrows down deep into the character, exploring the psychological toll taken by Beth's years of stifling herself in order to keep the peace in her family. It's a memorable, heartbreaking performance.
Pfeiffer plays Beth Cappadora, a mother of three whose three year old son is kidnapped, only to reappear nine years later. The film explores the immediate trauma of losing a child to abduction, and then imagines how hard it would be to discover your son was still alive but hardly had any memories left of you. The abduction scene, staged in an overcrowded, bustling hotel lobby, is absolutely crushing, all because of Pfeiffer's escalating panic—and, I might add, not something you want to rewatch after becoming a parent. Trust me, I still haven't recovered. She then expertly moves us through a mother's guilt—she was the parent responsible for watching the children that day—and then the ensuing grief and suffocating depression that never goes away.
Every time I've watched Deep End (based on the very first Oprah's Book Club pick, and written by Jacquelyn Mitchard), I've wanted to love it, but instead wind up wishing for a better film and more memorable supporting performances around Pfeiffer. Even Treat Williams, a solid, veteran actor, is only intermittently believable or affecting as Beth's husband. He's also lost a child, and he too struggles to readjust after their son returns, but none of it hits with the same blunt force as Beth's journey. That's because Pfeiffer really burrows down deep into the character, exploring the psychological toll taken by Beth's years of stifling herself in order to keep the peace in her family. It's a memorable, heartbreaking performance.
The rest of the movie doesn't come anywhere near her excellence in the lead role. At a relatively brisk 108 minutes, the whole thing still feels like a slog, and, not helping matters is the fact that Pfeiffer's preferred (and better) ending was reshot after the original final scene tested poorly. It's quite possible that, out of her entire filmography, Deep End offers the greatest disparity between the quality of her performance and the quality of the movie. Pfeiffer brought her best to a film that, sadly, didn't deserve her.
Like you I have issues with The Deep End of the Ocean. A film like that can either stir the heart or it can be utterly depressing. It's a difficult balancing act. As a wannabe Pfeiffer completist I have sat through this one a couple of times. Your final paragraph sums up my feelings about Michelle and TDEOTO perfectly.
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