Just so...so bad

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

The enchanting opening score and a dominant blue hue eases its way of a concealed familial drama with a murder case, a blackmail and an in-the-closet gay son. Out of expectation, a lesser impact on the gay culture, the film endeavors a strenuous effort to accent on a desperate mother's instinct of shielding her son, and magnificently the plot concocts a cordial twist to furnish the film with compassion and great gratification. Tilda Swinton is the ace here (vaguely has sustained her indie-queen ethereality into a more mainstream scope since then), magnifying every impression into an intact personification of a role model mother of three children, who struggles to cover a murder case which she thinks has executed by her elder gay son (which is barely the truth as audience has witnessed the entire occurrence), after that developing a mutual affinity with a young gay blackmailer, things start to become more engrossing. Goran Visnjic is equally empathetic and even a tad overshadowing Ms. Swinton during the final confrontation (a poignant moment arrives when their lips are so close to each other near the end of the film). It never goes awry with the things-getting-worse-until-the-very-end mode, at first one might sense a pro-WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (2011) ominous trauma was awaiting us, congenially enough it is not about the embittering mother-son's love/hate perplexity. This indie gem from director duo Scott McGehee & David Siegel (whose later feature BEE SEASON 2005 is a rueful misfire, a 5/10 in my rating, while their latest WHAT MAISIE KNEW starring my diva Julianne Moore is on the shelf this year) needs more credit for its adroit exposition, splendidly heart-rending impetus and the celeste tableau.

This film was a wonderful surprise. I wasn't aware of it - the publicity was scarce - so I watched it from word-of-mouth recommendations and enjoyed the entire experience thoroughly.Swinton's performance was a masterpiece of understatement. Her role was certainly no hammed-up overacted Academy Award performance. In fact it was virtuosity of the opposite nature. Underplaying a part can be excruciatingly difficult for both actors and the public and it requires effort on both parties. Thankfully the screenplay was a model of efficiency and tact with no whiz-bang histrionics at the end. The music from the magic of Ravel was astounding - again, subtle. The photography was magnificent and won well-deserved awards.Everything in the film meshes beautifully. I loved every golden moment.Curtis Stotlar

The majority of remakes tend to be disappointing, so it's especially enjoyable to see a movie like this which really bucks the trend. "The Deep End" is essentially a remake of Max Ophuls' "The Reckless Moment" and both movies were adapted for the screen from Elisabeth Sanxay Holding's story called "The Blank Wall". This thriller involves blackmail, a murder investigation and also a compelling account of the lengths a mother will go to in order to protect her family. Unusually though, it's also a story about characters who make great sacrifices for the people they care about.Margaret Hall (Tilda Swinton) lives near Lake Tahoe with her three children and father-in-law and becomes concerned about her 17 year old son's gay relationship with a significantly older man. She tries to persuade Darby Reese (Josh Lucas) to end the affair and he agrees to cooperate subject to a payment of $5,000. That night, however, he secretly visits Beau Hall (Jonathan Tucker) and after the two guys talk about Darby's readiness to be bought off, they argue and fight. Beau soon escapes and runs into the house but the dazed Darby staggers out of the boathouse and is accidentally killed as a result of falling onto an anchor on the beach.Next morning Margaret finds the body with some evidence which convinces her that her son was implicated and so to protect him, she dumps Darby's body in the lake. The body is found shortly after and a police investigation is launched immediately. A little later, things start to get complicated when a stranger called Alek Spera (Goran Visnjic) calls by Margaret's house and demands a substantial ransom to prevent him from passing a copy of a video tape to the police. The tape in question is potentially incriminating as it shows a sexual encounter involving Darby and Beau and thus establishes a close connection between the two men.Tilda Swinton is outstanding as the stressed and very determined mother who has to deal with a whole range of crises on her own because her husband is a naval officer whose duties keep him away from home for long periods of time. Swinton's expressions are incredibly effective in conveying the outward appearance of calmness which she feels she must maintain whilst at the same time giving hints of the enormous amount of fear and worry that she's experiencing. The range of duties and problems that her character deals with on a daily basis is impressive and also one of the reasons why her blackmailer unexpectedly changes his attitude towards her. Goran Visnjic displays the conflict which gradually develops within Spera very capably in what turns out to be a surprisingly good performance.The most striking difference between "The Deep End" and "The Reckless Moment" is that in the newer movie, the mother is motivated purely by a powerful desire to protect her family at all costs whereas in the older version there was also an element of being driven by a need to maintain the appearance of conforming with the perceived standards of her social class. There is also no indication in "The Deep End" that Margaret feels trapped by her family or that she feels any resentment about the pressures that their needs place on her."The Deep End" is a beautiful movie which is rich in atmosphere and the cinematography by Giles Nuttgens is marvellous. It's also well written, full of suspense and the development of the relationships between the various characters is interesting to watch.

A claustrophobic thriller about a woman who will go to any lengths to prevent her son from being implicated in the murder of his abusive lover.This is one of those movies in which a character digs herself deeper and deeper into a hole progressively more difficult to get out of, and it unspools with all the morbid fascination of a ten-car pileup. "The Deep End" was my introduction to the endlessly mesmerizing Tilda Swinton, in my opinion one of the best actresses working today. She received some award attention around the time of this film's release, but remained mostly obscure to the general public until fairly recently.Grade: A