HotToastyRag Robert Redford and Helen Mirren are a married couple with no visible problems. They have a beautiful house, two grown, well-adjusted children, plenty of money, and job security. When Bob leaves the house for work one morning, he has no way of knowing it might be for the last time. . .As if I needed another reason to be afraid of Willem Dafoe, he abducts Robert Redford and holds him at gunpoint deep in the forest while demanding a ransom from Helen Mirren. While in a way The Clearing is a typical kidnapping movie, it's also far less entertaining than most in its genre. Mostly it's just depressing, and the secrets that are revealed about everyone's past aren't very surprising. The good guy-bad guy roles are very clearly laid out; Pieter Jan Brugge and Justin Haythe should have written a far meatier script to keep the audience enthralled. If you like this genre, try renting Trespass or Shattered instead.

SnoopyStyle Wayne (Robert Redford) and Eileen Hayes (Helen Mirren) live a comfortable upper class life in Pittsburgh high class suburb. They have two grown children (Alessandro Nivola, Melissa Sagemiller). Then Wayne disappears. He's been kidnapped by former employee Arnold Mack (Willem Dafoe). The FBI investigates which reveals Wayne's ongoing affair. Eventually Arnold demands a ransom.The movie lacks the normal intensity. It's filled with a lot of the inbetween moments. It's a style that keeps the tension simmering at low. There are great actors here and it's fascinating to see them interact. There is also a timeline split going on. It's a great idea but it needs some more thought on its execution. This movie just needs greater intensity.

dhall58 Redford could have Eastwood's status except for the fact that Redford still insists that he be the star. The man must think he still holds leading man status. He doesn't. He should employ some talent like Hilary Swank, or a Jason Ritter, and give himself a supporting role. But if you know Redford, you know his ego is too big for something like that. Many of these reviews mention his pedigree...well, movies like this didn't get him a pedigree. The Clearing is two vague, and boring non-thrillers about a guy who apparently doesn't want to live. By the time I left the theater I didn't care whether Redford's character lived or died. The movie is short on details, short on drama, short on thrills...yes, it's well-acted. So what? Just because you act well in a bad movie doesn't make it a good movie. It's just a well-acted bad movie. I don't know who reads scripts for Redford (might still be Bill Holderman), or if he does it himself, but he should trade some acting talent for reading talent.

marieinkpen well it is always more fun to write about films that are rubbish than films that are good, since the latter should leave you speechless. this isn't entirely bad but it is bad enough to write about. it is stylish enough, but scratch the surface and it is really quite average. rich man, boring middle class family, an affair, and a kidnapper whose life is s***. the film's slowness is not necessarily a problem because there is some tension in it but a lot of unanswered questions. it was a nice coincidence that it started raining just when redford was able to escape but amidst the noise and poor vision in the storm why didn't he just leg it and run like billy-o? why did he hang around behind a tree and try to disable the guy he could easily have got away from? also, and maybe i am missing something, but how did arnold communicate with the family and send blood when he was out in the woods with robert redford?