The Clearing

2004 Mystery & Suspense

Dutch film producer Pieter Jan Brugge makes his directorial debut with the dramatic thriller The Clearing. Affluent executive Wayne Hayes (Robert Redford) and his lovely wife, Eileen (Helen Mirren), live in a beautiful home in Pittsburg. One day, Wayne is kidnapped by disgruntled employee Arnold Mack (Willem Dafoe). He is then held for ransom in a forest. Meanwhile, Eileen is forced to reckon with the FBI agents as they negotiate with the kidnapper. Alessandro Nivola and Melissa Sagemiller star as the two grown Hayes children. Matt Craven plays FBI Agent Ray Fuller. The Clearing premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004.

Director: Pieter Jan Brugge

Starring: Helen Mirren, Willem Dafoe, Alessandro Nivola, Matt Craven

 30 Reviews

Reviews

  • The very best thrillers -- a select group to which The Clearing clearly belongs -- exploit subconscious fears that bubble up at vulnerable moments.

    Ruthe Stein - The San Francisco Chronicle

    27 April 2013

  • The Clearing doesn't feel bound by the usual formulas of crime movies. What eventually happens will emerge from the personalities of the characters, not from the requirements of Hollywood endings.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    27 April 2013

  • The pleasures of this endeavor, directed with a keen eye for detail by Pieter Jan Brugge, come from what the actors bring to the material.

    Peter Travers - Rolling Stone

    27 April 2013

  • The Clearing is what's known in the biz as an alternative for adult moviegoers. Which is to say the film is a performance-driven drama devoid of special effects and loud noises. On the contrary, it's a meditation on midlife weaknesses and compensation.

    Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly

    27 April 2013

  • This is one of those moderately engrossing movies that seems to collapse all at once during the wrap-up, yet it's well-acted all around.

    Mike Clark - USA Today

    27 April 2013

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