Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Drama about family dealing with a lost child has language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Deep End of the Ocean
What's the Story?
THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN begins as Beth (Michelle Pfeiffer) leaves Wisconsin for a school reunion in Chicago. She's brought her baby and two young boys along. In a crowded hotel lobby, she leaves Vincent, the 6-year-old, holding onto 3-year-old Ben as she registers for the function. When she returns, Ben is gone. The police stage a wide-reaching manhunt with no results. Beth returns home and drops into a deep depression, neglecting her children and quitting her photography career. Her husband Pat (Treat Williams) is left to care for her and the kids, and Vincent, already a bit depressive, sinks as he assumes guilt for the way his family is crushed by Ben's disappearance. (Warning: It is impossible to outline the plot without describing what may seem like a spoiler but isn't.) Nine years later, the family relocates to Chicago and, by chance, they find Ben, now 12, a well-cared-for boy living only a few blocks away. Old wounds are reopened, family dynamics are tested, and questions arise over whether what's best for Ben is what's best for the family.
Is It Any Good?
The Deep End of the Ocean means well. It has dull, pedestrian, well-meaning-ness dripping over every scene, but it's largely frustrating to watch dim-witted parents overlook what is going on in their own home with their own children. They understandably yearn for the son who was abducted but, maddeningly, negligently, do nothing to take care of the wounded son who actually still lives with them. Even when Ben returns and is forced to leave the only parent he knows to live with the biological parents who are strangers to him, it takes three months for Beth and Pat to consider the possibility that they've basically kidnapped Ben again, as far as he's concerned.
Coincidences are absurd, as is the absolute certainty that a 12-year-old is the missing 3-year-old all grown up, despite the fact that they look nothing alike. The script is as oblivious as the biological parents, almost completely ignoring the trauma of the father who raised the boy in good faith from 3 to 12. Even under the manipulative drive of the Elmer Bernstein score, what ought to be a tearjerker elicits no emotion at all.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the way a traumatic event can affect all members of a family, no matter what age. How does the movie examine the different reactions of the mother, father, and son to the loss of a child?
Why do you think it takes so long for the mother and father to consider how their actions are affecting their children?
Extraordinary luck and coincidence help bring resolution in this plot. Does it seem too neat, or does the drama work? Why?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : March 12, 1999
- Cast : Michelle Pfeiffer , Treat Williams , Whoopi Goldberg
- Director : Ulu Grosbard
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Black Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Sony Pictures Entertainment
- Genre : Drama
- Run time : 118 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : language and thematic elements
- Last updated : May 15, 2023
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate