The Deep End (2002)

Margaret Hall (Tilda Swinton) lives a happy middle-class life in Tahoe City, California. Her husband is a pilot on the aircraft carrier USS Constellation. She is startled to discover that her son Beau (Jonathan Tucker), a high school senior, has been having a sexual affair with 30 year-old night club owner Darby Reese (Josh Lucas) in Reno, Nevada. The affair becomes apparent when a drunken Beau wrecks his car returning from Reno one night. The next day, Margaret visits Darby's nightclub, The Deep End, to demand that he stay away from her son. Darby offers to stay away for $5,000. Margaret attempts to discuss her son's gay orientation, but Beau refuses. They argue and Margaret forbids Beau to visit Reno again. That night, Darby secretly visits Beau and the two meet in the boat house. Beau confronts Darby about asking his mother for money. The two argue, eventually coming to blows. As Beau flees back to the house, Darby leans on a railing which collapses. Darby falls below, impaling himself on an anchor.

The next morning, Margaret discovers Darby's body on the beach. She deduces that Beau and Darby had an altercation which resulted in Darby's death. In a panic, Margaret decides to get rid of the body by dumping it in a cove. The body is soon discovered and the police investigate it as a homicide. Soon after, Alek "Al" Spera (Goran Visnjic) confronts and blackmails Margaret with a tape that Darby recorded of one of his sexual encounters with Beau. Alek demands $50,000 in 24 hours or he and his partner will turn the tape over to the police which would implicate Beau in Darby's murder. He says, "You have to get the money. Is that not clear enough?" Margaret tries everything to get the money, however she does not have enough time. Surprises keep coming and the plot thickens. The bad guys are caught by the end of the movie, but there are several flaws in the plot, including why the mother didn't just call the cops in the first place. If she thought her son had actually murdered the victim, why didn't she even mention it to him?

The theme, settings, plot, and dialogue are very good in this movie. It holds the viewer's attention and the emotions run high. It's a drama as well as a thriller, with twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. Peter Nashel composed the music. Scott McGehee and David Siegel directed and wrote the screenplay from Elisabeth Sanxay Holding's novel "The Blank Wall".

Innocent (2005)

Eric (Timothy Lee) is an innocent and shy teen from Hong Kong, whose family emigrates to Toronto primarily for financial reasons, but also because they didn't like his friends back home. He tries to adapt to the new Canadian culture and the very different approach to education, while dealing with his homosexual crushes on his hunky cousin (despite the fact the cousin has a girlfriend), a classmate, a band member, and eventually an illegal immigrant who is working at his family's restaurant. Eric also meets a much older man, with whom he has an affair, but the man's former boyfriend returns and he bows out. His parents are superficial and lack affection for each other. Family life is not stable, his father and mother eventually separate, after keeping Eric and his sister in the dark about what was going on. All the deception he experiences at home causes him to be deceptive about his true feelings with others, distancing him from his family and causing him disappointment and pain. But he tries to be happy and the prevailing tone of "Innocent" is hopeful rather than depressing. The ending is abrupt and ambiguous as the film slows and stops without resolution.

This movie is relevant on many levels addressing the issues of family bonding after migration to another country, sexual coming of age of a young man without support systems, mixing of cultures at polar opposites, and coping in a strange land without adequate preparation. It handles the sexual encounters Eric has with taste, yet still captures the erotic tension of a young gay man's journey of self discovery. Kevin Poon composed the original music, and the film was written and directed by Simon Chung, his first feature length motion picture. DVD extras include two earlier gay-themed shorts by Chung, commentary by him and Timothy Lee, a photo gallery, and trailers.