10 GAY PEOPLE's ChroniCLE MARCH 12, 1999

EVENINGS OUT

Whoopi Goldberg steals the show as a lesbian cop

by Tim Nasson

Los Angeles-Even before talk show diva Oprah Winfrey picked Jacqueline Mitchard's novel The Deep End of the Ocean for her popular book club, actress Michelle Pfeiffer's producing partner Kate Guinzburg read the book and knew she wanted to turn it into a movie.

"It's one of those books that you just can't put down," Guinzburg recalled. "I was up until three in the morning reading it."

"I don't think there's a parent alive who wouldn't be moved by this novel," Pfeiffer added. The three-time Academy Award nominee is herself a mother of two children.

"As a mother, I did not have to do a lot of preparation for that part of the role," Pfeiffer said during a January interview. "What was hard, of course, was the subject matter."

In the film, which opens nationwide on March 12, Pfeiffer plays Beth Cappadora, a loving, devoted, and occasionally overwhelmed mother of three who is struggling to maintain a successful career as a photographer. With her three small children in tow, she arrives at a hotel for her fifteenth high school reunion weekend. In the middle of a crowded lobby, she looks away for a moment—and in that moment her three-year-old son Ben disappears.

A frantic search turns up nothing; he has vanished, seemingly without a trace.

Enter Whoopi Goldberg as Candy Blissa black lesbian detective who has been assigned to the case.

Everyone involved in the film, from director Ulu Grosbard to Pfeiffer herself, sang praises about Goldberg's performance as the lesbian cop.

ZADE ROSENTHAL

Whoopi Goldberg (left) shines as lesbian detective Candy Bliss, who becomes a best friend and support system to Beth Cappadora (Michelle Pfeiffer, right) while leading the search for Beth's missing son.

"In the book, Candy Bliss had a greater role," Pfeiffer said. "In the movie, her character had to be cut quite a bit. But, Whoopi gave Candy so much life that she stole every scene she was in."

"It's a shame that the film, originally threeand-a-half hours long, had to be cut so much, but as it is, the film is well over two hours,” Pfeiffer added.

Pfeiffer said she felt very fortunate to be able to pick "such meaty and character-driven roles" such as the one she plays in Deep End. In this film, she said, the challenge was not having to show grief, but rather, "being able to show it without becoming monotonous or annoying.'

The biggest challenge for everyone involved, was the subject matter itself. As the

hours turn into days and the days into weeks and weeks into years, Ben's disappearance has a devastating effect on Beth's ability to cope with life. Tensions are created between Beth and her husband Pat (Treat Williams) as well as her older son, Vincent (Jonathan Jackson-who won his second Emmy Award last year for his role as Lucky Spencer on the daytime drama General Hospital).

The biggest shock of Beth's life comes nine years after her son disappears when a boy knocks on her door who is the same age as her missing son would be. Something strikes Beth about the color of his hair, the shape of his eyes, the curve in his cheek. She is confident that the boy is hers. While, in other films or stories, that scene would be the climax, it is only the halfway point of Deep End.

BIG TIPS

With the help of Candy Bliss, who over the years has become one of Beth's best friends, the Cappadora family is able to endure the painful years before they arrive at the final outcome of Ben's disappearance.

"I got the idea for The Deep End of the Ocean during a dream," author Mitchard said. Mitchard is the mother of five children, a syndicated columnist, and a former speechwriter for current Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala when she was chancellor of the University of Wisconsin.

While Mitchard is generally pleased with the screen adaptation of her novel, she is a little upset that the title is never fully explained in the film.

"They did shoot a scene in which the title is explained,” Mitchard said, “but, for whatever the reason, decided that it just didn't fit into the film."

For those wondering, the title refers to a seaside conversation that Beth has with her young son Ben, before he was kidnapped. "Are we at the deep end, Mom?” Ben asks.

"This is the ocean, Ben. There is no deep end of the ocean." Beth responds. When Ben replies, "It looks too deep," Beth tells him, "Don't be afraid,” and assures him that "Mama would never let the ocean snatch you away."

One will have to see the film to decide if the ending is what they would have chosen, because, for certain, there will not be a unanimous sigh of approval or disapproval.

Tim Nasson is a Chronicle contributing writer living in Boston. He can be reached at TimNasson1@aol.com.

What should I order if my date is buying dinner?

by M.T. "the Big Tipper" Martone

I didn't have to go to a local dinner theatre. Nor did I have to paw through crammed shelves at my favorite used bookstore. I didn't even have to skulk around Blockbuster, peering around the corner of the Hitchcock section. What I had on my hands was a real, live mystery. And I was genuinely annoyed that I couldn't make an honest effort at solving it, then turn to some page at the back with the answer to the puzzle.

The facts: One: The beater for the bottom of the breadmaker was missing. Two: Whenever I finished baking a loaf of bread, I pulled the beater out of the bottom of the loaf to slice the bread, washed said beater, and put it right back in the breadmaker, for the very purpose of its being present when I desired its use. Three: My girlfriend, while cunning, sexy

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and supportive of my every quirky whim, is not renowned for her timely return of anything to its rightful home.

I turned the kitchen upside down. In or under the dish drainer? No. In the flatware sorters? No. In that weird place behind the trash can that I never quite sweep? Gross, and no. It was not to be found.

and not too few snotty tissues, I found the dead loaf. And still baked firmly into its bready butt? The beater. Which I had thrown in the trash, and would have sent to the curb the next morning, if not for this timely epiphany.

BIG TIPS

I mentioned to my girlfriend that I was distressed and puzzled about the beater's whereabouts, and even mentionedin an only marginally passive-aggressive way— that I didn't know where it could possibly be, since I always put it back exactly where it belonged. She looked around the kitchen and reported back with the same findings, and, shockingly, with no sheepishness about her obvious involvement in the disappearance.

Days passed. I was vacuuming, as I am wont to do. My brain was ticking through my eternal, and ever-lengthening To Do list, and I got to "Dealing With the Breadmaker."

What should I do? I couldn't use the breadmaker without the beater. I guess I could order another one from the manufacturer, but why should I, when the beater had to be in the kitchen somewhere? And why would my girlfriend not put things away were they belonged? I am so patient. She's really lucky to have me. I've made her a fresh loaf of bread almost every other day since we got the machine. And we smack down every single loaf that quickly because they're so good.

Well, not the last one I made. It was weird and hard, and I never even sliced it before I threw it out. And if I never sliced it, I never picked out the beater... I hurried to the kitchen, pulled the kitchen trash bag out of the can and shook it. After delicately picking through about sixteen cups of coffee grounds

We joke around in my family that we think we're always right. I know I tend to be like that (of course, much of the time, I am right). I need my ass kicked every once in a while, though. And it's good to be reminded that I'm not the only patient one in my relationship. Dear Big Tipper,

I'm a boy with a mission. A serious dater. And sometimes I'm lucky enough to be taken out on the town by someone.

My question is how do I know what the appropriate thing to order in a restaurant is? If I know he's going to be paying, I don't want to look like I'm taking advantage of him by ordering something really expensive, but I don't want him to think I think he's cheap or poor, and order the least expensive thing.

Is there anything that it's not classy to order? How about when I go to a restaurant that serves a type of food I've never had? I don't want to look ignorant, but I don't want to accidentally get something disgusting.

Is it okay and polite to share what you're eating? Do you think someone on a date could be turned off by seeing you eating something that they don't like? Am I being overly nervous?

Dear Not an Easy Fork,

•

arrives, dangling tentacles. It doesn't have to be like that.

First of all, he's dating you. He wants to be with you, and that's the important part. The food is just an excuse for spending time together. Don't be distracted by the details.

Here are some easy guidelines: Order from the middle of the menu, not the most expensive, not the least expensive. If he says, “The swordfish here is great," and it's pretty expensive, it's okay to order it, because he's recommended it.

You can also ask him what he's thinking of getting, to get an idea of what range he's in. If you're eating at a restaurant where the offerings are unfamiliar, definitely ask him for recommendations.

About the relative "classiness" of what you're ordering: I wouldn't order a bacon cheeseburger with an extra 20 strips of bacon, but if some guy thinks it's uncool for you to order salad with ranch as opposed to a miso vinagrette, he's no great prize.

Sharing is fine, and sexy, if the dish lends itself to sharing. Anything which comes on a separate plate, from which you serve yourself onto your plate, is absolutely made to share. If you're each having a steak, you can offer a piece, and put a piece on his plate, or if you're feeling smooth enough, you can pick up a small piece with your fork and put it in his mouth (carefully).

Don't worry about grossing out your date with your selection: If he's a vegetarian, you probably didn't go to a steakhouse. Your manners are much more critical, and be sure yours are sterling.

If it's all just too much, you could always Want to Spoon just go out for coffee: Get a double tall latte with skim milk, decaf if it's after 7:00 pm. But I think you're definitely worth dinner. Good luck.

Sweetie, relax. Have you ever seen I've Heard the Mermaids Singing? Polly's nervous, and at a Japanese restaurant woman on whom she has a crush, and accidentally orders an entire octopus, which

Burning questions? Contact me at the Chronicle, attention Big Tips, P.O. Box 5426, Cleveland 44101, or fax to 216631-1052, or e-mail to martone@ drizzle.com.