The lives of two lovelorn spouses from separate marriages, a registered sex offender, and a disgraced ex-police officer intersect as they struggle to resist their vulnerabilities and temptations.
Direction
Field's clinical eye turns a neighborhood pool into a pressure cooker.
Acting
Winslet's bored intelligence; Wilson's pathetic desperation — both perfect.
Writing
Perrotta/Field script treats everyone with cruel, necessary compassion.
Director
Todd Field
Kate Winslet
Sarah Pierce
Patrick Wilson
Brad Adamson
Jennifer Connelly
Kathy Adamson
Gregg Edelman
Richard Pierce
Sadie Goldstein
Lucy Pierce
Ty Simpkins
Aaron Adamson
Noah Emmerich
Larry Hedges
Jackie Earle Haley
Ronnie J. McGorvey
Phyllis Somerville
May McGorvey
Helen Carey
Jean
Catherine Wolf
Marjorie
Mary B. McCann
Mary Ann
Trini Alvarado
Theresa
Jane Adams
Sheila
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Todd Field cast Jackie Earle Haley as Ronnie after seeing him in a short film; Haley hadn't acted in 13 years and earned an Oscar nomination.
The film's use of a Greek chorus-style narrator was controversial — Field added it in post-production to bridge Perrotta's novelistic voice, creating distance that some critics called cold and others called brutally honest.
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