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Deep End, The
Fox Searchlight Pictures

Deep End, The reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 78 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
6.7 out of 10
based on 27 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 27 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for some violence and language, and for a strong sex scene

Starring Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic, Jonathan Tucker, Peter Donat, Josh Lucas, and Raymond J. Barry

A story of a mother's relationship with her son as she struggles desperately to cope with a crisis that threatens to envelop her entire world. In the classical tradition of the American film melodrama, The Deep End explores the depths of familial love, the boundaries of communication, and the quiet lonely beauty of self-sacrifice. (i5 Films)


GENRE(S): Suspense/Thriller  
WRITTEN BY: Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (story The Blank Wall)
Scott McGehee
David Siegel
 
DIRECTED BY: Scott McGehee
David Siegel
 
RELEASE DATE: DVD: April 16, 2002 
Video: April 16, 2002 
Theatrical: August 8, 2001 
RUNNING TIME: 99 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

Swinton picked up a Golden Globe for her lead performance. Also picked up a Best Cinematography Award (Drama), 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
Washington Post Desson Thomson
An extraordinarily riveting drama.
Read Full Review
100
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Exquisitely made with a mesmerizing sense of style, it shows the wonderful things that can happen when traditional material is both handled with care and adroitly updated.
Read Full Review
90
New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein
An exciting, sharply realized melodramatic film noir, based on Elizabeth Sanxay Holding's novel "The Blank Wall."
Read Full Review
90
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
A thriller with a quietly sensational performance by Tilda Swinton.
90
The New York Times A.O. Scott
Fastidious and smart, and Ms. Swinton's fixated intensity isn't ever remote; we're always aware of how deeply she's feeling. Her work is magnificent.
Read Full Review
90
Time Richard Schickel
Elegantly made, romantically doomy, curiously affecting movie.
Read Full Review
90
Washington Post Rita Kempley
The real story lies beneath the surface of this superbly acted, strangely moving film.
Read Full Review
88
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
It's intense and involving, and it doesn't let us go.
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88
Boston Globe Jay Carr
A perfect example of a small, well-made, and (in its central role) rivetingly acted film.
88
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Remains rooted in the real world, which makes its story all the more satisfying -- and chilling.
Read Full Review
80
Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
The Deep End doesn't have a knotty message, but it's a much more meaningful picture than "Suture."
Read Full Review
80
Variety Todd McCarthy
Taking film noir material and turning it inside out visually and morally, The Deep End is an absorbing, beautifully made melodrama that succeeds on formal levels more than it does with suspense or emotion.
Read Full Review
80
LA Weekly Ella Taylor
A fetchingly improbable match of material and directors.
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80
Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
Goran Visnjic is such a sensitive, non-menacing gentleman that any woman would want him as her own personal blackmailer.
80
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Springs surprises that entertain and provoke.
Read Full Review
78
Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
Swinton is heartbreaking. She's not just craft; she's high art.
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75
Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Swinton single-handedly carries The Deep End past its nagging ambiguities.
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75
New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Delicious, intelligent thriller.
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75
New York Post Lou Lumenick
An intelligent, extremely well-acted thriller about a mother's endless love for her son.
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75
San Francisco Chronicle Wesley Morris
The resulting film is nobly ridiculous and ridiculously noble, doing everything in its power to subvert the dross it's fooling around with.
Read Full Review
70
Village Voice Dennis Lim
Swinton provides her own brand of incandescence, doubling as the film's aching heart and its center of gravity.
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70
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Watchable enough on its own terms.
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67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Ultimately successful at what it sets out to do, even if it's not as much fun along the way as the original.
Read Full Review
67
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Displays a promise it doesn't, in the end, live up to. See it for Swinton's embodiment of unadulterated maternal will.
Read Full Review
50
Slate David Edelstein
Swinton is good enough to take your mind off the not-too-compelling ambiguities.
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50
TV Guide Ken Fox
Swinton lends Margaret an air of grace under pressure, and fleshing out feelings of domestic dissatisfaction -- a key element that otherwise remains buried in the subtext.
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50
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The same story was told vastly better in the 1949 melodrama "The Reckless Moment."
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 6.7 (out of 10) based on 27 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

John B. gave it an8:
Should have had more of a gay subplot. Too stereotypical homophobic.

Gregory L. gave it a 10:
No film in memory has so deftly and deeply examined a mother-son relationship. Even better, Tilda Swinton and Goran Visnjic show the possibilities, and the costs, of moral dialogue. A great movie.

Ben S. gave it a 7:
I enjoyed Swinton very much, and Visnijic was darkly appealing. The true bad guy in the film wasn't really that menacing, though, and the story gets caught in ambiguities that tend to cause one to wonder where the story is really going. A good film for taking it easy on a Saturday night, all in all, thought you might want a cup of java at your side for the slow parts, which there are a lot of.

Alan M. gave it a 10:
Brilliant film for intelligent adults.

Don D. gave it a 9:
Tilda Swinton give a speech about trying harder which should be memorized by everyone. An excellent thriller with a heart of platinum.

Ryan M. gave it a 4:
It's interesting for a while, but then it drifts off to the point that, well, you just don't care anymore.

P. L. gave it a 1:
Over-rated. Over-dramatic. CRAP-OLA.

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