Neil Welch Michelle Pfeiffer and Treat Williams have their younger (age 5) son abducted. This is a bad thing, and the family barely hangs together. When he is returned 9 years later he does not remember them. They are faced with the problem of a younger son who does not feel he belongs with these strangers, and an older son who has gone off the rails due to the family stress.This family drama is interesting, always keeps you involved, and features good performances all round. The problem - if it is a problem - is that this feels very much like a Hallmark Channel Family Problem Of The Week TV Movie: small scale in presentation despite Pfeiffer, Williams and Whoopi Goldberg in the cast. This doesn't really matter, but it makes the film feel as if there is a mismatch between source and destination.It's worth catching on a lazy afternoon, though.

Austin Cartwright This is an original and well-written story — unlike most movies, which have predictable and time-worn story lines. It's about real people with real emotions, decent people trying to deal with difficult situations.I liked the characters. I liked the realistic way they dealt with the situations. And there wasn't any overacting, like you see so often in movies. People didn't go around screaming or otherwise overdramatizing, and yet their feelings were apparent. It was well acted by all.Most parents consider their children to be their possessions. Some parents have no regard for their children's feelings. Only a parent who really loves his or her child thinks of the child's happiness and best interests above all else. This picture recognizes this fact.This is an excellent movie. I really enjoyed it.

Electrified_Voltage I kept noticing a copy of this 1999 release in a drama section during my frequent visits to a local video store, and if it hadn't been for that, I would still be totally unaware of its existence, just like the book of the same name which this film is based on. This adaptation of Jacquelyn Mitchard's "The Deep End of the Ocean" only caught my attention because I could see that the lead role was played by Michelle Pfeiffer. I haven't read the book, and didn't even know the film was based on a book by the time I rented it this week. The film's premise seemed interesting to me, but I knew that this adaptation was polarizing, which gave me mixed expectations. I obviously don't know how good the book is, but the movie is what one can refer to as a mixed blessing.Beth Cappadora and her husband, Pat are the parents of seven year old Vincent, three year old Ben, and baby Kerry. Beth leaves town to attend her high school reunion in Chicago and brings her kids along. While there, she leaves Vincent and Ben together in a crowded lobby only briefly, but when she comes back, she sees that only Vincent is still there! A search for Ben quickly ensues, but sadly, the little boy is not found, which sends Beth into depression, causing her to oversleep and neglect her two remaining offspring. Nine years later, the Cappadora family moves to Chicago. At this point, it obviously seems like they will never see Ben again, but not long after they move into their new house, Beth meets a boy who lives in the neighbourhood and introduces himself as Sam. He looks very familiar, and it turns out that this boy, now twelve years old, really is her long-lost son, but sadly, the family reunion leads to more complications.This is clearly a film that's meant to be emotional, but I didn't feel it much until towards the end, and even then, it certainly didn't touch me the way certain other dramas have. For a while, I even wondered if I should have been watching the movie or not. I think I found myself struggling a bit to try and feel the emotion at times. A major reason why it didn't completely work for me might have been that I didn't know enough about the characters. I found that the film didn't tell enough about them before it got to the part where Ben goes missing. It also felt a little tedious at times. On the other hand, the family trouble did keep me interested, with no desire to stop the film before it was over, and the acting is decent enough I guess, though there is some weak dialogue, and the script of a movie can always affect the performances. Fortunately, at least the dialogue never got bad enough to make me laugh, and I found the film to be moderately gripping towards the end, still not enough to put a lump in my throat or tears in my eyes, but I certainly can't describe it as boring and/or laughable.If you read my reviews on IMDb, you will probably find that a lot of them are for movies based on novels, and in most cases, I haven't read the novel which the film I am reviewing is based on. There are some exceptions, but this is not one of them. I read novels, but unlike movies, I can't get through an entire novel in one sitting, which is obviously the main reason why I've seen so many movies based on novels I haven't read. Maybe the book entitled "The Deep End of the Ocean" is better than this adaptation (it wouldn't surprise me), and maybe I will read it someday, but right now, I'm reading a different novel. Anyway, this film is severely flawed and reminded me somewhat of "Stepmom", though it definitely is at least a BIT better than that film, as this one doesn't have the despicable characters. "The Deep End of the Ocean" doesn't work with its emotional content as well as it should, but I thought it was alright for at least one viewing.

Gunnar_Runar_Ingibjargarson Beth Cappadora (Michelle Pfeiffer) is at her high school reunion when her 3-year-old son disappears from his brother's care. The little boy never turns up, and the family has to deal with the devastating guilt and grief that goes along with it. Nine years later, the family has relocated to Chicago. By a sheer fluke, the kid turns up, living no more than two blocks away. The authorities swoop down and return the kid to his biological parents, but things are far from being that simple. The boy grew up around what he has called his father, while his new family are strangers to him; the older son, now a teenager, has brushes with the law and behavioral problems. His adjustment to his lost brother is complicated by normal teenage churlishness, and the dad (Treat Williams) seems to expect everything to fall into place as though the family had been intact all along. It's a tightrope routine for actors in a story like this, being careful not to chew the scenery while at the same time not being too flaccid or understated. For the most part, the members of the cast deal well with the emotional complexity of their roles. Though the story stretches credulity, weirder things do happen in the real world. The family's pain for the first half of the film is certainly credible, though the second half almost seems like a different movie. Whoopi Goldberg plays the detective assigned to the case; casting her is a bit of a stretch, but she makes it work. All in all, a decent three-honky movie in the vein of Ordinary People.