45
Metascore
28 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75USA TodayMike ClarkUSA TodayMike ClarkTwo films in one: an intriguing child-disappearance mystery and an uncommonly affecting domestic drama realized by four terrific central performances.
- 70SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirSo finely crafted, so alive with wonderful acting and an extraordinary commitment to realism that most audiences will be happy to surrender themselves to its improbable ride.
- 67Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyIf the film was less than satisfying as a big-screen event, it's still worth renting for Pfeiffer, who valiantly portrays the devastating complexities of grief and guilt.
- 63ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliPaced more like an action movie than a drama, and, when a pause finally occurs at the end credits, we realize that it hasn't been an altogether satisfying ride.
- 60The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinGrosbard mercifully avoids melodrama -- the only real false notes are musical ones, from a score by Elmer Bernstein that turns familiar and trite when the film does not.
- 50Austin ChronicleSteve DavisAustin ChronicleSteve DavisNever fully taps your empathy or your fears; it plays like a movie that's always about someone else.
- 50Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversThe film ultimately gives in to a case of TV-movie blahs.
- 38Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertA painfully stolid movie that lumbers past emotional issues like a wrestler in a cafeteria line, putting a little of everything on his plate.
- 20The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsIt's not the implausibility of its plot, the shallowness of its characters, its funereal pace, its tenuous understanding of teenage behavior, its commercial-ready TV-movie-style direction, or the fact that Pfeiffer and Williams may be the most implausible Italian-Americans since James Caan -- the film is most undone by its near-complete lack of genuine drama.
- 10Washington PostStephen HunterWashington PostStephen HunterIt has the overwhelming stench of a film afflicted by star ego -- Michelle Pfeiffer is never wrong, which is exactly what is wrong with The Deep End of the Ocean.