Web posted on:
Friday, March 12, 1999 2:06:32 PM EST

By Reviewer Paul Clinton

(CNN) -- It's no surprise that "The Deep End of the Ocean" was made by the production company owned by three-time Academy Award nominee Michelle Pfeiffer: She knows a juicy role when she sees one, and her part in this film is fresh-squeezed.

Her character, Beth Cappadora, gets to go through a vast range of heartwrenching emotions as the mother of a 3-year-old boy who vanishes in the blink of an eye.

Whoever wrote the production notes for this film actually had the nerve to call it "a modern masterpiece" and "the kind of story that only comes along once in a generation." That's a bit much, even by Hollywood's hype standards.

This film is based on a best-selling novel of the same name by Jacquelyn Mitchard. While I never read the book, I have to assume that it went into more believable details than this film version had time for. As is often the case in an adaptation, this movie seems to gloss over huge chunks of plot.

Nonetheless, the gut-wrenching premise of losing a small child and having no idea whether he's alive or dead is bound to touch a nerve with parents everywhere. Within the first few minutes of this film, that's exactly what happens to Beth and Pat Cappadora when their son, Ben, disappears at Beth's 15-year high school reunion.

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Treat Williams plays Pat, the devastated father who holds the family together (there are two other children -- son Vince and daughter Kerry) while Pfeiffer takes to her bed with a petite nervous breakdown for the first half of the film.

Jonathan Jackson turns in a beautiful performance as older brother Vince. Jackson has won two Emmy Awards for his work on the daytime soap opera "General Hospital." In this film his character provides an important pivotal role and he makes what is at times an unbelievable situation more believable.

But the heart of the film occurs with the reappearance of Ben nine years later. Here's where you have to hang onto your hat, folks, 'cause things get a bit breezy. The explanation for the kidnapping is, to say the least, a stretch and way too pat, but I assume it worked in the book and any other explanation would have gotten in the way of the plot.

So now Ben is back in the warm embrace of his long-lost family. The problem is that he has another family just two blocks away and his name is now Sam. (Don't ask.)

Therefore, to Ben/Sam, this family is a group of strangers, and what is best for him may not be what his newfound parents have planned. The role of Ben/Sam is not an easy one to pull off, but Ryan Merriman does a pretty good job. If you don't buy his pain and confusion there is no story.

Pfeiffer turns in one of her best performances as the flawed but loving mother who loses her way in this terrible tragedy, then regains her sense of self and her family by the final reel. For the record, I think her best performance, and her best film ever, was "The Fabulous Baker Boys," co-starring Jeff and Beau Bridges.

Many of you are going to find this film's plot hard to swallow. It is definitely one of those movies where you either get on the ride and decide to accept the basic concepts, or you don't. But with the deft direction of Ulu Grosbard and the efforts of this remarkable cast, most of the flaws, for me, can be overlooked. This teary "chick flick" does tilt dangerously towards sappy, but never actually keels over.

What is strange is why on earth Whoopi Goldberg took on the thankless role of detective Candy Bliss. I kid you not, that's the character's name. Candy tosses out, for no apparent reason, the fact that she's a lesbian. Now it's great that there are now gay characters in movies that just happen to be gay and that is that -- no big issue. But there usually is some reason for revealing it within the plot, if for no other reason than to give the character an added dimension. Here it comes out of nowhere and stays there -- nowhere.

This movie is Frank Capra III's first effort as an executive producer. His great-grandfather, director Frank Capra, brought us such classics as "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington," "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town" and "It's A Wonderful Life." His upbeat and unrelentingly optimistic films were dubbed "Capra Corn," and "The Deep End of the Ocean" follows in that tradition. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Just an observation.

However, I must confess -- I'd pay money just to see Pfeiffer read the phone book.

"The Deep End Of The Ocean" is rated PG-13 with a running time of 148 minutes.