December 16, 2002

"THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN," STARRING MICHELLE PFEIFFER, TREAT WILLIAMS AND WHOOPI GOLDBERG,
TO BE REBROADCAST SUNDAY, JAN. 26

Jonathan Jackson, Ryan Merriman and John Kapelos Also Star

THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Treat Williams, will be rebroadcast Sunday, Jan. 26 (9:00-11:10 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. (Originally broadcast 4/7/02)

The movie also stars Whoopi Goldberg, as a supportive if offbeat detective, as well as Jonathan Jackson, Ryan Merriman and John Kapelos.

The tense drama, based on Jacquelyn Mitchard's novel of the same title, begins in the lobby of a Chicago hotel as Beth Cappadora (Pfeiffer) is checking in for her 15th high school reunion accompanied by her three young children: 7-year-old Vincent, 3-year-old Ben and baby Kerry. In the few minutes it takes Beth to register, Ben, who was in Vincent's care, has vanished.

As hours pass, then days, weeks and finally years, the resulting shockwaves batter the family members and fault lines crack through the once smooth surface of their lives.

At first, having drifted into a laconic despair, Beth, the devoted mother, neglects her other two children. She gets help from sympathetic detective, Candy Bliss (Goldberg), and returns to the family's Madison, Wis., home. Eventually, Beth's husband, Pat (Williams), moves the family to a pleasant Chicago suburb, and they attempt to go forward with their lives.

It is there that a 12-year-old schoolboy (Merriman) comes to the door asking Beth if he can mow the Cappadoras' lawn. Although the boy, a neighbor who calls himself Sam, has no memory of her, she recognizes him immediately as Ben. When fingerprints match, Ben is reunited with his birth family: his proud father, his sullen elder brother (Jackson), his little sister (Alexa Vega) and the mother who is still grieving for the golden-haired 3-year-old she lost nine years earlier.

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Ben also faces an emotional upheaval as he attempts to adjust to life away from the only home he has ever known. John Kapelos plays his adoptive father, who knew nothing of the kidnapping and now finds his own life being ripped apart.

Ulu Grosbard directed the 1999 Columbia Pictures release from a screenplay by Stephen Schiff, based on the novel. Kate Guinzberg and Steve Nicolaides are the producers.

RATING: To Be Announced

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Press Contacts: Kim Sartori     212/975-4574            kasartori@cbs.com
        Tiffany N. Smith        323/575-3833            tiffany.smith@tvc.cbs.com