Review of The Deep End (2001) by Adrian Morgan L — 10 Sep 2006

Best in Show: Tilda Swinton.

One for the future: Goran Visnjic.

Stand-out scene: Reaching for the tape/money.

Brainer or no-brainer: No brainer.

Stands up to one viewing or repeated?: Repeated.

DVD commentary any good?: n/a.

TV.

Now that Goran Visnjic has left ER he hopes to do a George Clooney and become a major film star. On the strength of this movie he could well make an impact as here he plays a blackmailer whose character develops beyond the usual two dimensions. British actress Tilda Swinton adopts a Californian accent as Margaret Hall, a resident of Lake Tahoe. With Mr Hall away at sea, she heads up the household caring for her ageing father-in-law (Peter Donat), her two sons Beau and Dylan (Johnathan Tucker and Jordon Dorrance) and her daughter Paige (Tamara Hope...why not hope today?). Suspecting that her son Dylan has got involved with a man at a gay bar called The Deep End (get thee to a punnery!) Margaret warns said man to stay away from her son. When he ignores her plea and makes a late night visit to the Halls' lakeside house, calamity strikes. Believing that her son has committed murder, Margaret finds the body next morning and sets about covering up the crime. A few days later she has a housecall from businessman Alek Spera (Goran Visnjic) who was owed money by the deceased man. He has video footage of the man and Beau in a compromising position and makes cash demands in return for the tape and his silence. With her hubbie as co-signator on their accounts Margaret finds it impossible to raise the sum in time. Tilda Swinton is excellent in the pivotal role, her determination to keep her son's name out of the police investigation putting into place a series of escalating calamities. Visnjic brings charisma to a role that could have been quite bland and his thinking-woman's heart-throb credentials are given further credence through his performance here. The movie does resort to cliche and dumb twists occasionally, but on they whole this is a superior thriller with some beautiful cinematography along the way.