“The Deep End” (2001)
The film which marked Swinton’s major breakthrough in the States, and in retrospect makes quite the interesting double-bill partner for “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” Scott McGehee and David Siegel‘s “The Deep End” provides an unusually “normal” role for Swinton as a lonely Californian mother. But it’s the wringer that the helmers put her through that makes it so special. When Margaret Hall believes her son (Jonathan Tucker) to have killed his older lover (Josh Lucas), she covers the death up, only to be confronted by a pair of blackmailers (Goran Visnjic and Raymond Barry) who want $50,000 for their silence. In classic noir manner, things get worse and worse for Margaret, putting her into a hole from which it seems there’s no escape, and McGehee and Siegel’s second best stroke is managing to blend those noirish overtones with the feel of a classic ’40s melodrama (indeed, the source material, Elizabeth Sanxay Holding‘s “The Blank Wall,” was filmed before in 1949 as “The Reckless Moment“). Of course, their greatest stroke was casting Swinton, whose turn is something of a cypher at first, but very gradually crystallizes into a powerful portrait of a mother’s unconditional love for her son, even if in brief flashes, we see her ambivalence about how deep she’s sunk for him. More than that, in her connection with Visnjic’s Alek, we see a portrait of deep loneliness. It’s a very different performance from ‘Kevin,’ but there’s plenty of DNA in common, and it’s a film worth reconsidering in the shadow of Lynne Ramsay‘s picture.
“Michael Clayton” (2007)
This writer remembers being puzzled when Swinton took the Supporting Actress Oscar home for Tony Gilroy’s “Michael Clayton.” It was a strong year: Cate Blanchett had stuck a mesmerizing landing as Bob Dylan, Saoirse Ronan broke out in “Atonement,” Amy Ryan delivered a moving and volcanic performance in Ben Affleck’s surprisingly strong “Gone Baby Gone“, and always-great Ruby Dee had reminded the Academy not to count out octogenarian thespians. But it was Swinton’s Karen Crowder, stuck in the unfortunate position of orchestrating a cover-up for the company that retained her, that was definitively voted the best. Why? It took several viewings of Gilroy’s verbose, morally intricate thriller to appreciate Swinton’s tremendous contribution, playing a lackey to the great beast that is U-North who is inadvertently left in a position to keep an eye on (and contain) Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), a key prosector in a case against her company. Wilkinson is at the top of his game here (he scored a worthy nomination), but his ranting, morally pained Edens pales in complexity to Crowder, hardly a villainess but no less responsible for her exceedingly immoral actions. “Michael Clayton” features a number of outstanding moments but few are as chilling as Crowder **spoiler alert** giving the order to eliminate Edens — Swinton makes you feel both intense dislike and startling pity for her character who is out of her element and attempting to navigate the world of hired killers with the same mindset that could have conquered a boardroom. Swinton portrays a power player losing at an unfamiliar and barbaric game, with total commitment to the role. It’s a bit low-key to be a career best, but it certainly is a major achievement for any actress.