The Deep End of the Ocean

The title is evidently the former, though the movie is hardly the overwrought mess that I'd expected to see (for example: Message in a Bottle). Instead, The Deep End of the Ocean is a surprisingly thoughtful and laconic character study, full of nuance and genuine emotion, largely driven by Pfeiffer's unraveling character Beth. The well-known plot involves the sudden disappearance of Beth's 2 year-old son Ben, who vanishes while she is visiting Chicago. Nine agonizing years later, a kid who can only be Ben shows up -- as Sam, a neighbor's boy who wants to mow the lawn. Sure enough, it's him, but he doesn't remember his family,

The legal and emotional pain that ensues could have gone into schlocky sentiment but it doesn't. The kids and Pfeiffer each carries the film on a shoulder, and it's genuinely intriguing to see how things are going to pan out. To be sure, there's no surprise by the time you get the end of the picture, but I have to say, I'm calling my mom right now.