The Deep End

It surely says something about a movie when you have to look over in the middle and ask your neighbor "Is this movie good?". Generally the question itself is an indication that the answer is No. In The Deep End a mother of three kids lives on Lake Tahoe with her father-in-law while the father of the children is on a U.S. Aircraft carrier somewhere. So from the start, we know there will be single mother stresses. As it turns out, the only character development in the entire film seems to be how much stress can mom show, while offering other characters no chance to be anything. The oldest son gets into a bit of trouble, mom tries to cover up a perceived indiscretion and some thugs come into the picture to try to extort money. I am sure that the film was made based on a treatment that included single mom stress and some sort of reference to a reverse Copenhagen syndrome. And if it were done well, that premise could have made a good movie. Show me something about why the daughter is a grease-monkey, why the son likes fish, why the father-in-law is treated with kid gloves. Instead we get a one dimensional mom and zero dimensional supporting cast.
2-stars (out of 5)