The Clearing [DVD] [2004]

It grinds from the first minute. The only potentially interesting part, where Helen Mirren is trying to pay a ransom, soon turned into a corny loop-hole. Would a whole team of special agents really lose sight of her in an enclosed area and enable her to get in a car and drive away un-noticed to a new drop-off place? I don't think so, but they do here.

I found the irregular pacing, direction and editing to be infuriating, because the scene-cutting is the opposite to the timescale of the film. In other words, in just a few seconds you see Helen Mirren getting up, having a dip in the pool, go shopping, cup of tea, and suddenly it's evening. But the parallel story involving her kidnapped husband is crawling at a snail's pace, scrutinised by the second.
After a couple of minutes this style was simply annoying, but after a couple of hours.. well, on the positive side, at least I know what to look for in other films, and can hover on the 'Eject' button. It's as tough on the eyes as it is on the brain.
Many scenes fall into the current trend (probably inspired by Seinfeld) for ending without any real point - the depressed family-characters talk as if they're possibly going to achieve something, and then it suddenly ends - time and time again! I was left thinking "Was that it?" - and I suspect much of the script wasn't quite ready when filming began. Page One onwards.

I doubt anyone could have been in charge of this project, because there seems to be a huge distance between all the different parts. The plot is secondary to the actors' names, but the actors don't have enough to do or say in order to hold the film together, and the music is sparse and for the most part, compounds the overall problem - ie it's another aspect which just doesn't fit in. It needs rewriting, reshooting, rescoring and in this case, returning!

Successful executive Wayne Haynes (Robert Redford) lives the good life in an elegant mansion in a leafy suburb with his wife of decades, Eileen (Helen Mirren). One morning on the way to work, Wayne is kidnapped by Arnold Mack (Willem Dafoe), a former employee, and made to march at gunpoint deep into the woods, ostensibly to be handed over to accomplices waiting in a cabin who've planned the escapade for reasons to be revealed. Eileen is left to expect developments and a ransom note with FBI agent Fuller (Matt Craven).

To be honest, I kept expecting a plot twist that would reach out, knock the popcorn from my hands, and scream "Gotcha!" And, admittedly, I was a little disappointed when that didn't happen, even though there's a mildly clever manipulation of the timelines of the two subplots, i.e. Wayne's forced march and Eileen's worried vigil. However, upon reflection, I realize that THE CLEARING isn't about a kidnapping, but rather the evolution of a marriage and the emotional ties that bind even in one that's gone stale, where the only things left are emotional dissatisfaction, dutiful commitment, and resigned toleration. Indeed, Mack's motive for the crime is left unexplored, but it doesn't have to be; it's simply a means to an end.

This film is overpopulated. Eileen is joined by her adult children, daughter Jill (Melissa Sagemiller) and son Tim (Alessandro Nivola), the latter with his own wife and infant son. The casting director should have stayed solely with the Redford, Mirren, Dafoe, and Craven characters. Except for a poignant and revealing confrontation between Eileen and The Other Woman (Wendy Crewson), the rest of the ensemble only provides unnecessary clutter.

Old pros Redford and Mirren show the audience and the younger generations of thespians what quality acting is all about in an adult drama that has nary a special effect in sight. This is a solid film about mature relationships.