Rating: 
Summary: THE CLEARING is Disappointing
Review: Upon finishing this film, I could hear Peggy Lee singing, "Is That All There Is?" 95 minutes of a kidnapping (Redford's) and the resulting FBI and family drama associated with it (kind of standard TV stuff)and an ending that, while somewhat surprising, left me cold because I simply didn't care about these people. I'll give you the fact that Willem Dafoe plays creepy guys better than just about anybody, but even he didn't inspire much terror or pity in this one. Helen Mirren (always interesting to watch) and Robert Redford go through the paces as the rich married couple at the heart of the story, but the whole thing just seemed a big waste of time. Several reviewers have gone out of their way to try to put a good spin on this film, talking about the emotional revelations and layers revealed as the plot moves forward, but I still didn't come away with anything except regret that I wasted 95 minutes and a few bucks at the rental store.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring With A Horrible Ending
Review: [Spoiler Alert]The Clearing is about a goodie goodie rich guy(Robert Redford) who's kidnapped by a depressed, down and out guy(Willem Dafoe). The wife(Helen Mirrin) of the rich a$$ must stay strong as possible. During the kidnapping, the rich guy and the poor guy talk to each other and discuss how much they have in common and how much they don't. This movie is boring, but most of it is interesting. Then there's the ending. The ending proves nothing except that there's no point to the whole film. Willem's character kills Redford's character and purposely gets caught. All the conversations, the crying, the depression, only to see the hero of sorts get killed. Redford should've known better. I'd expect Dafoe to pick a bad role(he played Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ), but he actually does good. The ending comes so quick that you never really figure out why Dafoe's doing this and why he waited all day to kill him. Was this review helpful to you?
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