Deep End

Theatrical Release Date: 2001 08 08 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 024543031673

Studio: 20th Century Fox

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence, Brief Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Sexual Situations]

Summary: A mother is drawn into a sinister web of blackmail while trying to protect her son in this drama. Margaret Hall (Tilda Swinton) is a wife and mother of three living in Lake Tahoe, whose husband is a Naval officer stationed in the Atlantic ocean. Margaret's oldest son, teenaged Beau (Jonathan Tucker), is gay and has become involved with Darby (Josh Lucas), a disreputable older man whom Margaret does not trust. Margaret confronts Darby and tells him to stay away from her son, but Darby isn't easily dissuaded, and he comes by the house late one night, leading to a fight between Beau and Darby. The next morning, Margaret discovers Darby's body on the beach, with an anchor piercing his chest. Not sure what to do, Margaret hauls Darby's body out to sea, and dumps it where she hopes it will not be found. Margaret tries to get her life back to normal, until a man named Alek (Goran Visnjic) appears at her door. Alek appears to know something about Darby's death, and he definitely knows about Beau's relationship with him; in fact, he has a videotape of Beau and Darby having sex, and he's prepared to make it public unless she'll pay him $50,000. Margaret is in no position to pay the money, but is desperate to protect her son and attempts to reason with Alek. Surprisingly enough, in time it works, and Alek withdraws his request for blackmail money. However, Nagle (Raymond Barry), a local crime boss whom Alek works for, is not nearly so generous. The Deep End was adapted from a novel by Elizabeth Sanxay Holding, The Blank Wall, which was previously filmed by Max Ophuls as The Reckless Moment. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Excellence in Cinematography Award – Sundance Film Festival Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama – null Best Actress – Independent Spirit Awards Best Cinematography – Independent Spirit Awards Best Actress - Runner-up – Toronto Film Critics Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: Full-length audio commentary by writers/producers/directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel
"The Anatomy of a Scene" Sundance Channel featurette
"Making-of" featurette
Still photo gallery
Theatrical trailer and TV spot
Anamorphic widescreen (aspect ratio 2.35:1)
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Surround, English Dolby Surround, French Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Deep End

Format: DVD

Release Date: 04/16/2002

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DDS Dolby Digital Surround

Runtime: 101 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Beau's Mother [2:38]
2. Main Titles [1:46]
3. Worried About Beau [:02]
4. Darby [5:12]
5. The Accident [:04]
6. The Body [5:22]
7. The Car Keys [2:06]
8. Something Happened [2:13]
9. The Corpse in the Cove [6:08]
10. 50,000 Dollars [4:03]
11. In Desperate Need [2:13]
12. Heart Attack [1:31]
13. The Family Friend [3:45]
14. Nagle's Threat [6:31]
15. Try Harder [:14]
16. A Change of Heart [7:29]
17. Business in Reno [2:55]
18. Things Have Changed [3:25]
19. Missed Connections [1:27]
20. Nagle's Last Move [4:25]
21. Alek's Choice [1:15]
22. Just a Friend [1:55]
23. A Loss for Words [3:41]
24. End Titles [4:54]

Tom Vick

Scott McGehee and David Siegel's second feature is essentially a modern-day version of the domestic film noir dramas of the 1950s, a genre that includes such classics as Michael Curtiz's Mildred Pierce and Max Ophuls' The Reckless Moment (which shares The Deep End's source material). Co-directors McGehee and Siegel know their stuff. Rather than resorting to action to produce thrills, they build suspense through the inner tension of the film's heroine, Margaret Hall (Tilda Swinton), as she tries to hold her family life together while fending off the gangsters who threaten to destroy it. The filmmakers also alter their source material by changing the heroine's daughter to a gay son (Jonathan Tucker) involved with an older man (Josh Lucas, whose brief, brutally seductive performance is one of the film's treats). Cinematographer Giles Nuttgens uses Lake Tahoe's crisp, cool light to bolster the atmosphere of tension and dread that underpins every scene: the light itself seems to harbor a haunting chill. The film suffers, however, from a not entirely successful attempt to update Elizabeth Sanxay Holding's novel. Ophuls injected The Reckless Moment with a proto-feminist subtext: James Mason's suave blackmailer takes pity on Joan Bennett's timid housewife precisely because her sheltered life seems so miserable to him. Swinton's efficient, multi-tasking, and thoroughly modern Margaret Hall, on the other hand, seems more than capable of taking care of herself while her husband is away at sea. The Deep End's blackmailer, Alek (Goran Visnjic), just seems to crumble in the face of her assertiveness. Ironically, Swinton's justly praised performance actually works against the film's premise. Alek, and his even less menacing boss Carlie Nagle (Raymond Barry), are just no match for Margaret when it comes to getting the job done. ~ Tom Vick, Rovi

Cast and Crew: David Siegel  Director 
David Siegel  Producer 
David Siegel  Screenwriter 
Scott McGehee  Director 
Scott McGehee  Producer 
Scott McGehee  Screenwriter 
Robert H. Nathan  Executive Producer 
Tilda Swinton  Actor 
Goran Visnjic  Actor 
Jonathan Tucker  Actor 
Raymond J. Barry  Actor 
Josh Lucas  Actor 
Peter Donat  Actor 

Country: USA