After Pat and Beth have a fight (following Ben's disappearance), Pat goes for a ride in his car and young Vincent comes along to smooth the waters. In his hand, he plays with a cassette tape. It is the soundtrack to Grease 2 (1982), which starred Michelle Pfeiffer.
Michelle Pfeiffer was unhappy with the ending of The Deep End of the Ocean so had all the cast and crew called back to shoot a new ending just before its release but the producers and director didn't think it worked so stuck with the original,.
Extensive rewrites and re-shoots caused the film to be delayed from its planned fall 1998 release to spring of 1999.
Brad Renfro was considered for the role of Ben\Sam, but the role was ultimately given to Ryan Merriman.