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With that movie in mind, I think the critics were trying to bend over backwards to come off as trendy for the “Swingers” crowd. But I don’t see what they are getting out of “The Deep End.” It may have one or two worthy sanctions for technical elements, but that isn’t the only thing being hurrahed. A complacent, enervated suspense, Scott McGehee and David Siegel jointly write, produce and direct this pulseless thriller about a mother who is blackmailed for $50,000 to retrieve a videotape of her teenage son engaging in homosexual sex with a man whose body turns up at the bottom of Lake Tahoe. We are there to witness the fight between the guys, as well as to see the victim fall to his own death, only for the mother (Tilda Swinton) to move the body out of sight the next day. I suppose that the major deviation in standards of this sort of movie, is that when the pick-up guy and co-blackmailer (Goran Visnjic) is coerced into listening and then seeing the mother’s hardships with money, his conscience kicks in and he tries to help her out instead. Why then? Aside from her lengthy testimonial complaints, what support are we shown to make us believe he would so suddenly and unexpectedly change courses in mid-direction? It happens too fast and it happens without a sufficient reason, and for something of that magnitude — for a criminal to one day change his position in the middle of an act of crime, it’s wholly unlikely. It’s not for the purpose that he thinks he’ll get caught or to avoid legal repercussions, it just happens. Adapted from the novel “The Blank Wall,” the screenplay is terribly scripted with artificial, stilted dialogue and uncompelling and weakly articulate diatribes and arguments. It’s as if McGehee and Siegel are trying to mimic the eloquence and rhythm of David Mamet, but they sound like inexperienced and tacky send-ups. The whole somber and mule-driven pace of “The Deep End” keeps hinting that something is bound to happen, but it never does. It’s such a poor, embarrassing and hollow attempt at filmmaking that permeates of cheesiness and unintentional camp with regularity. The father-in-law character (Peter Donat) is so god-awfully scripted and acted, that when the pathetic character suffers a stroke, it’s hilarious and a relief. Jonathan Tucker, as the gay teenager, is another one horrifically miscast and embarrassing to watch. Visnjic has no emotion and plays the character far too distantly, and Swinton, who I can tell is already being pushed for an Oscar nomination, is stiff, rigid and a cold individual. The whole thing never should have happened. The plowing, dull story could have easily been avoided had Swinton not babied her son so much and came forward with the truth; if the revelation would have ruined him in Tahoe, they could have packed-up and moved on. Only the crisp, vibrant cinematography by Giles Nuttgens and the minimal role by Tamara Hope met any type of criteria. Otherwise, I can’t imagine how one of the worst films I’ve seen so far this year has received the attention it has. And the MPAA’s rating reasons for “The Deep End” enumerated in the small box on the poster and press kit has never allowed such insight into their homophobia. What they consider “a strong sex scene,” is the gay sex scene in which all that is seen is the man laying on top of the teen’s backside with extremely insignificant moving. A breech of the two bodies is never seen, and the viewing from the videotape is a short one at that.

With Josh Lucas and Jordan Dorrance.

Final Verdict: F.

link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=4842&reviewer=172
originally posted: 08/17/01 02:19:40
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