The Deep End

Scott McGeHee and David Siegel have directed this 2001 drama/thriller staring Tilda Swinton (Margaret), Goran Visnjic (Alek) and Jonathan Tucker (Beau).

The story is basically a tell tale heart surrounding an accidental death. Young Beau, a promising trumpet player has an affair with an older man of questionable moral character. After an ugly scene the older man, Darby Reese (Josh Lucas) falls of a pier and happens to land badly. Very Badly.

Beau’s mother Margaret finds the body and gets rid of it thinking she can protect her son. The family now becomes subject to blackmail from some of the boyfriends unsavoury contacts. They have a video tape of young Beau with his lover and threaten to hand it in to the police unless they recieve 50 000 dollars. The blackmailer Alek (Goran Visnjic) develops a certain sympathy for the family after having help resuccitate the grandfather Jack (Peter Donat).

Despite it’s best intentions this movie does not make it all the way. As long as the suspense is created by Margaret trying to get rid of the evidence and keeping her family together it does well.

Alek, the blackmailer, quite quickly becomes a more sympathetic character, which again, sort of works. He displays obvious concern for Margaret and has an attack of consciousness and I can get behind that. The tension between Margaret and her son, who may or may not be a killer, is nicely understated – they simply can’t communicate about anyhting, much less this. The question of the son’s sexual identity is a huge elephant in the room. So far so good. Margaret desperately tries to raise the money in between being a soccer mom and trying to get hold of her husband who is in the navy and out on a carrier somewhere.

Swinton gives a beautifully understated performance, showing the nerves and offering the blank face of shock while doing what is necessary. Visnjic is a good ganster with a heart of gold. Young Tucker gives a good performance as an angsty, talented but somewhat rebellious teenager.

The problem is that the tempo is uneven and the things that work so well in some scenes, the palpable silence and desperation, becomes campy and stagey in others. Some locations, like the boathouse, feel overly theatrical and the violence is not convincing.

And I simply cannot reconcile myself with the ending. It is not set up well enough for me to believe any of it. I mean, if you are going to sacrifice it has to be more of an involvement than we have here as far as Alek is concerned. Margaret sacrifices, but that is understandable, we are talking about family and she strikes me as someone who will do whatever she has to.

The very last scene depicts Margaret crying in shock and her son Beau comforting her. She tells her son she loves him, and again, I would not mind this as a resolution to the movie, if it wasn’t for the blood and gore.

You just feel the lopsidedness of the events. It is an unhappy mixture of action and drama that tries to be both and neither and winds up failing in all respects, despite solid performances from all the key actors.

Mule