The Clearing

Plot synopsis:
Wayne Hayes (Robert Redford), and his wife Eileen (Helen Mirren) are living the American dream in a wealthy Pittsburgh suburb, having raised two children (Alessandro Nivola, Melissa Sagemiller) and built up a successful business from scratch. He is looking forward to a peaceful retirement with Eileen. Everything changes when Wayne is kidnapped in broad daylight by a former employee, Arnold Mack (Willem Dafoe). While Wayne tries negotiating with the kidnapper, Eileen works with the FBI to try to secure her husband's release. During the investigation, Eileen learns that Wayne has continued an extramarital affair that he promised to end months previously.
Eileen is eventually instructed to deliver the ransom to the kidnapper, but Arnold takes the money without returning her husband; Arnold murdered Wayne the day of the kidnapping. Although Eileen's ordeal takes place over the course of a week, the film is edited to show Wayne's kidnapping as if it was happening at the same time.
Arnold is eventually caught when he begins to spend the ransom money in the neighborhood where he lives. At a local grocery store, he uses a $100 bill to make a purchase. The store manager calls authorities and verifies the serial number on the $100 bill is on a watch list the FBI distributed to local businesses. During questioning Arnold is asked if he wanted to be caught, and he admits that the kidnapping was to get money for his depressed wife, but it took him all day to bring himself to kill Wayne and he couldn't live with the guilt of his crime. In the end, Eileen receives a loving note written by Wayne before his death.

Tags: romantic, murder, flashback

Review:
A great deal of viewers will pan The Clearing for being too "not down to the point", an intelligent suspense thriller about a wealthy man (Redford) kidnapped by an angry ex-employee (Dafoe) and held for ransom until the rich business owner's wife (Mirren) pays the price.
Not that that is an insult to the film, their discussions are very carefully and skillfully written, it is just that we are expecting this movie to go places, it doesn't go.The other half of the film consists of Mirren's character dealing with the F.B.I. and the kidnapper to get back her beloved husband.
I think the best performance in The Clearing (which may be honored with an Oscar or at least Golden Globe nomination) is Helen Mirren as the intensely worried housewife of Robert Redford.
The other revolves around Eileen (Helen Mirren) and her interactions with FBI investigator Ray Fuller (Matt Craven) who has set up his unit as a control center inside the Hayes home while the couple's children look on.Redford is outstanding as the intense business tycoon, and Mirren gives one of her best performances, portraying a tightly controlled suburbanite wife who refuses to panic even when her husband misses a dinner party she told him to be on time for.
Although there are some contrivances in the plot, the acting is superb throughout and the film works as a psychological thriller, a meditation on loss and regret, and a character study of two flawed but loving people who have forgotten how to express their joy in living..
With it's three main stars being in their 40's, 50's and 60's, I expect that younger audiences might prefer some strange movie about a radioactive spider bitten school boy that opens the same week-end.The Clearing is a story about a successful businessman, Wayne (Redford), who is kidnapped by down on his luck Arnold Mack (Willem Dafoe) and held for a ransom of $10 million in a secluded forest.
Like most kidnapping films, the movie can only end one of two ways really, and don't expect that to be revealed here.
Instead, his deep blue eyes are able to relay back to the audience that of a man who wishes things could have been different and who seems genuinely concerned about the hurt he may have caused others.But maybe the best acting within the films running time is in the performance of Helen Mirren.
Handling the situation with class and grace, yet frequently in panic over the possibilities, Mirren gives what is undoubtedly her strongest on screen performance in the past 10 years.It was a bit of a surprise in 2004 when The Clearing appeared at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
the story of this movie is not that big deal, you see a lot of movies like these all around the world, but, the impressive acting skills of William Dafoe and Mirren, that what gave this movie a taste.The story was predictable, although the ending was surprising a little bet, I expected something different.What i loved most about the movie was the acting, William Dafoe was really into the character, he played well, and i was impressed.Also Mirren Played such a wonderful role, I liked the way she was cool and all quiet, you didn't see her fall apart at the end when she gets the bad news, wonderful performance she did, i think it's the best role she ever played..
But the tension is primarily ratcheted up not by action, but what we learn what stuff each of the characters is made of, particularly as to how superbly Helen Mirren and Willem Dafoe surround Robert Redford.
Here first-time writer Justin Haythe and director Pieter Jan Brugge are more focused, even while playing a few tricks on the viewer with time-shifting "Rashomon" rewinds, though there are a couple of questionable holes in the story as it takes surprising directions.It's a relief to finally see Redford in a role fitting his age, with an age-appropriate spouse and adult children, including Alessandro Nivola not playing his usual sensual snake.
After reading many good things about it ,i finally watched "the clearing".With a cast of great actors like Redford and Dafoe ,one would,at least, expect a decent film.After the closing credits had rolled i was still shocked by how bad and incoherent this movie actually was.Is it supposed to be an "art" film??I don't think so cause it is too melodramatic for that.The bad thing is that the drama seems way too forced and unrealistic.The truth is that the script makes absolutely no sense.First of all it never really explains the motive behind the actions of any of the characters,it just overblows their so called "personal issues".What's so bad about Redford's character's life that he has to "clear it"??The fact that he cheats,occasionally,his wife??The guy is a millionaire who has had a good life,has a great son and a great daughter,a wife that loves him(and a girlfriend that also seems to be way above the generic mistress type of woman)o and a new-born grandson.The only problem seems to be that he...has been working hard for all his life to be a successful person.So what??It seems that his hard work has really paid off and there's actually no real problems with his life.Then we come to Dafoe's character:here's someone who was a manager for one of Redford's companies and was fired.Why is this guy unemployed for ...eight years???It seems that he must have some kind of good education to have a job like the one he had in the first place and seems to have been a man with solid ideas about his work(as evident by his flashback of a conversation that he had with Redford when he was working for him).Why couldn't a man like that get a decent job and have a decent life??Cause he was ,once,fired??Totally unrealistic.The film really tries to portray these men as "tortured souls" or something and that comes off as really cheesy.In fact i would say that if the creators of this film were trying to say something about the American dream then they failed miserably.As for the actual events that take place during the movie ,they also make no sense at all.In fact the last 20 minutes of the film come off as an insult to the viewer's intelligence,because there's not one thing that takes place that actually makes any sense.Redford seems to have about a 1000 chances to escape ,yet he doesn't.At one moment he is ready to escape and yet he misses his chance cause he feels sorry for his kidnapper and doesn't want to hurt him!!!Then Dafoe picks up his gun from the water and the mud,which should be useless(if you fire a shot with a gun after the gun has been in the water and mud it will possibly blow up in your face)and the gun is in perfect condition!!!
The way an unemployed ,useless(as portrayed in this film) and mentally unstable character,manages to outsmart the entire FBI with such ease brings the narrative of this film to "twilight zone" levels.The cheesy ending(with Redford's wife illusion) comes to finish the viewer off.This film pretends to be something,it's not(i.e a quality,sophisticated psychological thriller).Unfortunately it fails so hard,that it becomes a disaster and that's the word that describes this film best:A DISASTER..
The answer is, it is a film that would attract a very limited audience: an over-50 crowd with very Liberal sensibilities.Who else who watch Robert Redford, Willem Dafoe and Helen Mirren give, essentially, a basic message that "cheating on your wife is okay so long as you still love her." That's the nice "feel-good message" here, particularly at the end at the end of this strange kidnapping story.
Take a kidnapping, let the villain make the wife of the kidnapped man deliver the money, make the police look stupid and boring and extend this to 95 minutes, you got your "Clearing" movie.
Redford, Mirren and Dafoe could read a seed catalog and make it fascinating, so this beginner's exercise in suspense and character is not a dull film if you keep that in mind; Roger Ebert mentioned that he could not see the conclusion coming--it was evident to me in the first ten minutes, the set-up with life-styles certainly leading the plot development: the worker bee on the public bus and the king of the hill with his swimming pool and doting wife neatly contrasted from the get-go.Because this is not primarily a violent film, but a character study, some may find the close-ups and studied manner of worried wife Mirren dull, but it is really the screenplay that needs some intensity and tension as the two men square off in the woods; their chatter is oddly pedestrian.
It looked really good, and I was expecting it to be great since it starred Robert Redford, Helen Mirren, and Willem Dafoe.
Robert Redford is a brave actor: He allows multiple close-ups of his weathered and saggy 60 something face to play a kidnapped husband and father in director Pieter Jan Brugge's (produced 'Insider') 'The Clearing.' The intimate shots of him and his wife, the estimable Helen Mirren ('Calendar Girls'), almost 60 and less-aged than her outdoorsman leading man, help support the theme about what disruption can do to challenge the love of two people, regardless of their wealth and personal crises.'The Clearing' is a garden-variety kidnap movie whose distinctions are its splendid photography by Denis Lenoir ('Demonlover') and actorly moments between Redford and his captor, played by Willem Dafoe ('Spiderman 2').
Robert Redford as Wayne Hayes the husband and Helen Mirren as his wife Eileen are excellent in their roles, while kidnapper Arnold Mack(Willem Defoe) who has been secretly watching them for many years sets out to trap them into handing over a vast amount of money.
i'm sure if you liked this film you're trying to forget the "touching climax" where the wife finally reads that letter we'd all been waiting on the edge of our seats to read...we all know it was worthless, meaningless, and void of any emotion (because there is zero character development)...well maybe there was some character development, but they did it very cheaply by DESCRIBING what a good guy Redford's character was rather than showing good scenes as examples.
to be honest, she seemed like way more of a suspect than Willem Defoe's character....my friends and i all thought she was to blame throughout the entire movie......oh yeah and Redford's mistress was HOT........this movie still sucked big time.
But the actors are diminished by this crap story.This fails on what supposed to be its strength, intense character acting, because the script is so boilerplate.Watch only if have to have seen everything by Willem, Redford or mirren..
I just love Helen Mirren and Robert Redford, but it did not take me long to fidget in my seat, as this was a long, slow moving movie that just seemed to drag on and on.
like in so many movies of the past, you would think Hollywood would learn this by now, makes for a very disappointing movie, not to mention, make sure the kidnapped victim is alive first before paying the ransom.Maybe this film wants to remind of these basic facts in case it should ever happen to one of us.
The flaws they each possess are not revealed for either improvement nor justification at a later point in the narrative, but instead plonked unceremoniously in our laps almost from the beginning, so that when the ending finally transpires, we're not in the least bit surprised.Everybody acts well, without giving the people we see too much in the way of 'personality', and the events of the plot are reasonable within the grounds of reality, but you can guess the traits that we're spoon fed easily and early enough merely by looking at the casting and the costumes.
However, the film never really gave the appearance of being slow and dragged out and all in all worked very well.At the end of the day it is a kidnap movie end of story and while the individual characters are developed a great deal more than normal, it remains a kidnap movie.I think the different time perspectives of the two principal story lines worked very well and probably went a long way to removing the slow feel I have already alluded to.
Robert Redford plays his character with strength; every word of the dialogue between Redford and Willem Dafore is important - but you do not realize this until you have watched the movie and then thought about it for several days..
To me, this is a really powerful movie- The subtleties of the acting on the part of all three majors was simply riveting- As is the case with all acting- the viewer relates more effortlessly if they can identify with any of the characters- and or the struggles represented.I am reasonably confident that this film will find its audience with the over 40 demographic- The superb, seemingly effortless and ultimately telling manner in which Helen Mirren tells us exactly what she is feeling (and what powerful feelings they are indeed)- her vast insecurity regarding her relationship with Redford, her need to keep it all together in light of the trauma that has devoured her family is pure acting magic- the evolutions of her feelings and her reflections of a shared life, condensed within movie time, are directed, lighted, set and acted so beautifully that they easily transport the viewer to empathy.
Redford's work is equally lean and I would venture to say his best- he just has such a great facility for owning the camera, and it is no effort to like his character, Wayne, begging only the question of when, not if, a man of such character and presence will make his stand against the spear point of the drama- Willem Dafoe is crystalline in the beautifully played sympathetic sensibilities of the "everyman" from whom the life force has been sucked- leaving him only a final desperate attempt at circumstantial salvation-An incredibly simple plot with few support characters that are good enough to flesh out the story- leaves the viewer free to deeply analyze and ultimately cherish the acting of Mirren, Redford and Dafoe-I could easily watch it again- -----------------------------------------------------------------------.
Willem Dafoe's tragic character was the only one I really saw develop throughout the story line and the viewer only really sees that change in the last ten minutes or so in the movie.
Helen Mirren's portrayal as Robert Redford's wife was flat and sort of followed the same generic mold as other movies which include a tragic and heart-splitting event.In my opinion, "The Clearing" is nothing to rave about.
In "The Clearing" (2004) Robert Redford plays a rich executive in the Pittsburgh area kidnapped by a working class guy (Willem Dafoe) while his wife (Helen Mirren) tries to handle the situation.Those hoping for a conventional Hollywood crime thriller will be disappointing by "The Clearing." This is a reflective adult drama/mystery about a kidnapping, based on a true story that occurred in Holland in 1987.While decidedly low-key, there are interesting psychological elements rooted in class warfare (the executive and kidnapper's relationship) and the nature of happiness in marriage and the stumbling blocks thereof (the executive, his wife and another woman).
Redford does solid work, though he makes an unlikely long-time husband for Helen Mirren (miscast) and his give-and-take with Willem Dafoe is edgy without being particularly enlightening.
The film takes place in western Pennsylavania, somewhere near Pittsburgh.Helen Mirren is very good, as another review mentions, it is nice to see her in a non-embellished character role; though she was excellent in "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" - among others.Robert Redford is believable, and underplays his role as a successful businessman, bored with his life, who eventually has an affair (Wendy Crewson).
Willem Dafoe plays Arnold Mack, an insecure loser who is so desperate he joins a plot to kidnap the very successful entrepenuer Wayne Hayes, played by Robert Redford.There are 2 separate suspense threads, deliberately unravelling at different time frames.
The 2nd thread is the tense interaction of Defoe and Redford.The plot inconsistencies are actually clues into the surprise ending, which, although not obvious or certain, you might be able to guess.There were a few themes involved, the obvious one, the "clearing" of unresolved issues, but also interesting is that Arnold Mack proves himself to be highly intelligent but tragically ungrounded, I think Wayne Hayes is something of the opposite, but in life, we see, the later profile is the more adept one.Anyway a solid effort..
Willem Dafoe and Robert Redford both gave great performances in this film.
They went beyond the good guy and the bad guy and made character's with flaws, who think a lot about what they do and the mistakes they make.The writing was fantastic and it had to be to keep the audience interested in a two hour conversation between Redford and Dafoe and both actor's used the script well.
These character were thinker's, Redford thinks about what he has done wrong during the course of his life and Dafoe thinks a lot about the magnitude of what he is doing.The thing that some people may have disliked about this movie is that the narrative structure is a little strange.
Helen Mirren and Robert Redford play a couple, Eileen and Wayne, living a very good life.
This was a very entertaining movie that kept my interest through out, with fantastic performances by Redford,Mirren and Dafoe.
There are some very poignant feelings that come out in the film and Dafoe's character is like many men in this strange economic time who strive to be a success but can't seem to catch a break and life gradually starts becoming a serious of unfortunate events.
I was looking forward to this - Redford, Defoe & Mirren, all great actors, all in the one film.
What isn't simple is Wayne (Robert Redford) and Eileen's (Helen Mirren) marriage and that of the kidnapper Arnold (William Dafoe).