It is most definitely a throwback film noir, but is also so acutely contemporary in its anxieties, that it's impossible to label as only that.
The Deep End (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:113
Fresh:92
Rotten:21
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: A well-acted film noir with arresting visuals.
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Aug 8, 2001 Limited
Box Office: $8,301,918
Synopsis: Tilda Swinton is riveting as Margaret Hall, a conscientious mom raising a family in Lake Tahoe who is entangled in a web of blackmail. While she frets over transporting her kids to ballet and... Tilda Swinton is riveting as Margaret Hall, a conscientious mom raising a family in Lake Tahoe who is entangled in a web of blackmail. While she frets over transporting her kids to ballet and baseball practice, she worries that her teenage son, Beau (Jonathan Tucker), is involved in a sleazy nightclub life in nearby Nevada. Margaret's husband is a Naval officer who is often away at sea, so she is alone in rearing her family. When Beau gets into a car accident with his gay lover, Darby (Joshua Lucas), after a night of partying in Reno, Margaret takes matters into her own hands and tells Darby to stay away from her son. A few days later Darby shockingly turns up dead next to her boathouse. Shortly thereafter, mysterious Alek (Goran Visnjic of the television series ER) comes to Margaret's door armed with an incriminating video of her son and Darby and threatens to go to the police if she doesn't pay him $50,000. The film's mystery and tension mount as the plot twists and turns--in one scene Tilda Swinton's captivating eyes frantically look on as the strangely tormented Goran Visnjic performs CPR in an emergency worthy of ER. Directors David Siegel and Scott McGehee, famous for their inventive first feature, SUTURE, trade idiosyncrasy for atmosphere using Giles Nuttgens's fluid cinematography--which oozes with mystery in cool blues and refracted light--to set the frightening and suspenseful mood of THE DEEP END. [More]
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic, Jonathan Tucker, Raymond J. Barry
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic, Jonathan Tucker, Raymond J. Barry, Peter Donat, Jordan Dorrance, Tamara Hope, Joshua Lucas
Director: Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Director: Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Screenwriter: Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Producer: David Siegel, Scott McGehee
Composer: Peter Nashel
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
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Reviews for The Deep End
Even when The Deep End takes an unfortunate turn toward convention, Swinton is still there, pulling us along.
The sort of movie that leaves us room to participate in its meaning, and that's the sort of movie I love.
Remains rooted in the real world, which makes its story all the more satisfying -- and chilling.
Sucks us into its vortex of sex, lies and videotape and refuses to let go -- at least for the first hour or so.
A perfect example of a small, well-made, and (in its central role) rivetingly acted film.
Swinton's arc from the ordinary to the exceptional is a thing of aching beauty in this film.
Its self-awareness is never less than jarring -- trash too high-minded to come out and indulge itself.
If the captivating turns and stellar acting of The Deep End don't carry you away, the incredible water imagery surely will.
If it weren't for the recurring common sense loopholes...there would be little to distract from the chilling tingle The Deep End emits.
An unremitting nightmare of comfortable domesticity gone frighteningly awry.
Has some nice twists and turns along the way, and filmmakers Scott McGehee and David Siegel keep the tension crackling and creditable.
Latest News for The Deep End
September 08, 2005:
Trailer Bulletin: Bee Season
Richard Gere, Juliette Binoche, Flora Cross, and Kate Bosworth star in the new drama "Bee Season," which is based on the novel by Myla Goldberg, and interested parties... More...
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