The Deep End of the Ocean

The Deep End of the Ocean is a 1999 American drama film directed by Ulu Grosbard, and starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Treat Williams, Jonathan Jackson, John Kapelos, and Whoopi Goldberg. It is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Jacquelyn Mitchard, a bestseller that was the first novel selected by Oprah Winfrey to be discussed on Oprah's Book Club in 1996. The film tells the story of a family's reaction, when Ben, the youngest son is kidnapped and then found nine years later, living in the same town where his family had just moved. The film was released in theaters on March 12, 1999 by Columbia Pictures, and was a box-office flop, grossing $28 million worldwide. Plot During her high school reunion in a crowded hotel lobby, Beth Cappadora's 3-year-old son Ben vanishes. Police are called to the scene as a frantic search begins but it is unsuccessful, and Beth experiences a nervous breakdown. Unable to cope with her devastation, she unintentionally neglects her other two children, Vincent and Kerry. After nine years, the Cappadora family has seemingly accepted that Ben has gone forever, when a familiar-looking boy turns up at their new house offering to mow their lawn. He introduces himself as Sam Karras, but Beth becomes convinced that he is Ben. She alerts the police and an investigation begins. Beth discovers Ben was kidnapped at the reunion by Cecil Lockhart, a mentally unstable woman who was an old classmate of Beth's. She brought Ben up as her own child until she took her own life five years later. Ben, now Sam, had since been living with Cecil's husband who adopted Sam after they met, believing the child was hers.