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Deep End, The
EMAILPRINTFox Searchlight Pictures

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 27 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
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:
Theatrical: August 8, 2001
DVD: April 16, 2002
Running Time: 99 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
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)
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...
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 >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 >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
A thriller with a quietly sensational performance by Tilda Swinton.
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 >Time Richard Schickel
Elegantly made, romantically doomy, curiously affecting movie.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
The real story lies beneath the surface of this superbly acted, strangely moving film.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
It's intense and involving, and it doesn't let us go.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
A perfect example of a small, well-made, and (in its central role) rivetingly acted film.
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Remains rooted in the real world, which makes its story all the more satisfying -- and chilling.
Read Full Review >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 >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 >Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
Goran Visnjic is such a sensitive, non-menacing gentleman that any woman would want him as her own personal blackmailer.
Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
Swinton is heartbreaking. She's not just craft; she's high art.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Swinton single-handedly carries The Deep End past its nagging ambiguities.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
An intelligent, extremely well-acted thriller about a mother's endless love for her son.
Read Full Review >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 >Village Voice Dennis Lim
Swinton provides her own brand of incandescence, doubling as the film's aching heart and its center of gravity.
Read Full Review >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 >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 >Slate David Edelstein
Swinton is good enough to take your mind off the not-too-compelling ambiguities.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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
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.
