The Cover

Robert Redford plays Wayne Hayes, a rich and successful businessman. He lives with his apparently loving wife Eileen, played by Helen Mirren. The two live the kind of existence that you'd expect from a couple that's been together for a long while. They're comfortable in their quirks and have an ease of language and behavior that leads you to believe that nothing is amiss. Their lives are normal and average.

But lurking outside the bushes a mean ace awaits, and none is more mean acing than Williem Dafoe, a fact that isn't lost on most viewers and critics. Dafoe, second only to Malkovich and Walken in terms of the creep factor, plays Arnold Mack, a complicated slow burning menace that is intent on kidnapping Wayne. And kidnap him he does, though that is not the the point of the movie. The tension comes as we try to determine why Arnold has kidnapped Wayne, and just what he intends to do with him as he takes him out to the woods. While the two men talk and carry on a conversation, clearly demonstrating the difference between societal classes, Eileen worries at home. She's waiting for her husband, and eventually calls in the FBI.

The difference between this, and say the movie Ransom, for example, is that the time is shifted and it becomes clear that the events unveiling in the woods have already taken place. This adds more tension and provides a great backdrop on which Wayne and Eileen's relationship is explored, their lives and behavior ruminated on.

With this cast, you would expect some great performances, and you certainly get that here. But great performances don't mean that the film is necessarily exciting, because its really not that interesting, despite the tension in the film. Certainly, it ends in a rather unexpected manner, but even that fact alone isn't enough to keep The Clearing from becoming a nebulous exercise in dialogue and character.

Movie Grade: C

Willem and the Gun

Video & Audio: 3 out of 5
Both are just as you'd expect from a character driven drama. The video has a nice blue cast to it that is entirely purposeful, so don't you go complaining.
Widescreen Anamorphic - 1.85:1 / English (Dolby 5.1)

Extras: 3 out of 5
A commentary by the director, editor, and writer. A nice trifecta of the creative process, plus six deleted scenes with optional commentary. I can take it or leave it.

Overall: 3 out of 5
The Clearing is worth a look for its acting and the slow methodic way that the film presents its characters and plot. But it's exactly this slow plodding that proves to be the movie's undoing.

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