The Clearing

The Clearing

Starring: Robert Redford, Willem Dafoe, Helen Mirren

Directed by: Pieter Jan Brugge
Written by: Pieter Jan Brugge, Justin Haythe

Rating: R
Length: 1 hour 35 min
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: July 16, 2004

Willem Dafoe gets fed up by his boss, Robert Redford, so he kidnaps him. Hey, this isn’t Swimming With Sharks is it?

Robert Redford isn’t really his boss, but it’s all explained in the movie in a roundabout way. The movie is odd since you get to watch the kidnapping happening over the course of a day and then you get to watch Redford’s wife and grown children back at the house for days wondering what’s going on with the kidnapping and why it happened.

The FBI pries into their lives. An old affair is brought up and happy memories are discussed. None of it is news to anyone.

I think the movie had some potential, but I think there were major plot points missing. I still don’t understand why he was kidnapped. I don’t get what the motive was and the ending was really stupid. It might happen that way with real kidnappings but I’m not watching reality here. I want to know the reasons behind things.

Grade: D+

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