Deep End

If you liked If… (1968, with Malcolm McDowell in a foreshadow of his iconic performance in A Clockwork Orange), you might also enjoy Deep End (1971, starring John Moulder-Brown as the miscreant misfit protagonist). While If… isn't really a thriller, Deep End wades those waters and is therefore appropriate for (some) horror fans. (Think: Takashi Miike's Audition, in which nothing bloody happens until the final few minutes.)

With its stiff upper-lip British sensibilities, meshed to the director's (Jerzy Skolimowski) dour Polish-cinema approach, some American audiences might find Deep End slow. I did, but not excruciatingly so. And, it does pay off in the end (Jane Asher, as the object of a strange young man's fixation and affection, is truly amazing in her performance throughout the film, but especially in the finishing frames).

Deep End attends the wanderings of Mike (Moulder-Brown), a down-and-out lower-class schoolboy whose first real job is as an attendant in a public suburban London bathhouse. He's quickly disabused of any notions that this could be a career of a lifetime once he's sexually harassed by a hefty hausfrau (played perfectly by Diana Dors, once touted as "England's answer to Marilyn Monroe") and verbally abused by a potty-mouthed, graffiti-scrawling elderly male.

The only thing really worthwhile in miserable Mike's life is his beautiful, engaging, ginger-haired coworker, Susan (Asher). She's a tease, but he's fascinated and quickly becomes infatuated with her. She's not entirely unreceptive to his advances, yet Susan does ultimately rebuff him... which turns Mike into a major stalker (as the tagline says, "If you can't have the real thing, you do all kinds of unreal things").

Laden with subtext, Deep End never really gets to the text. The film has some intriguing moments, a few indelible visuals, and the not entirely surprising climax is worth the wait — but you may not find the wait worth the wait. I'm glad I saw it once, but it's not a movie I'd readily recommend and definitely not one I want to see again.

Still not on DVD, you can only catch Deep End at revival showings. Currently, it's playing at The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, CA.

= = =

Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson