As Tears Go By

Motherhood has become a chronic problem in Hollywood, like Bruce Willis' hairline or Brad Pitt's inability to play a human being. The most recent examples of mother-loathing are last year's One True Thing and Stepmom, which, along with this year's short-lived In Dreams, solve the problem by killing off Mom. The Deep End of the Ocean doesn't kill Beth, but it puts her through a crucible so excruciating that for much of the story she resembles the living dead. Years after the kidnapping she's still sleepwalking, although the movie does perk up whenever the young actor Jonathan Jackson (playing Beth's other, now-teenage son and giving the only performance in the film) comes onscreen. It's tedious to watch Pfeiffer flop around like a rag doll, and it's a good guess that it was equally tedious to play. Pfeiffer doesn't look jazzed by her character's misery; unlike Susan Sarandon, she doesn't get off on martyrdom, which descends on her 10 minutes into the story. At least in Stella Dallas Barbara Stanwyck got to tramp around a bit before being eased out of the picture. It's not entirely mysterious why Pfeiffer's production company decided that the novel would make a good movie, or why she took the part. The book did get good reviews, and playing a character that looks like she has an internal life probably sounded appealing. But didn't anyone read the script?

THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN| Directed by ULU GROSBARD | Written by STEPHEN SCHIFF | Based on the novel by JACQUELYN MITCHARD | Produced by KATE GUINZBURG and STEVE NICOLAIDES | Starring MICHELLE PFEIFFER, TREAT WILLIAMS, WHOOPI GOLDBERG and JONATHAN JACKSON | Released by Columbia | Citywide