The Clearing: Critic Reviews

The story is Redford's, but with [Mirren's] trademark brisk practicality and ease in her own skin, she ransoms the actor from the constrictions of his self-definition as a romantic movie star.

Mr. Brugge has perhaps succeeded in avoiding vulgar melodrama, but he has hit on something far worse -- a bloodless melodrama, with bottled water running in its veins.

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, especially by its star, who once again reminds us why audiences have liked him for 40 years.

We are lured into the woods brimming with expectations, but ultimately, we find ourselves looking for the wrong sort of clearing: a way out.

It stays in character, small, human, bitter and sad.

Discreetly filmed, slowly paced, looking for deeper motivation in every glance and comment, The Clearing never comes up with the emotional gold to justify the dig.

With the emotional reins of the movie firmly in her grasp, Mirren never condescends to her character, investing her with an unshakable poise that unnerves even as it reassures those around her.

The performances by the three principals are first-rate.

An intriguing but dramatically stunted psychological thriller about a kidnapping.

The film is written, directed and enacted with palpable intelligence. But intelligence can seem dull if unleavened by wit or excitement.

As fine a performance as Mirren gives -- capturing Eileen's apprehension and sturdiness at once -- Redford is the chief reason to see The Clearing.

A thriller stripped of thrills -- or, even worse, a thriller that thinks of itself as somehow rising above the vulgar pleasures of excitement.

What eventually happens will emerge from the personalities of the characters, not from the requirements of Hollywood endings. Sensing that, we grow absorbed in the story, knowing that what happens along the way will decide what happens at the end.

The Clearing is just an OK thriller, full of standard scenarios and cookie-cutter characters.

Classy but ultimately unsatisfying.

What had been an intelligent and intriguing thriller loses its bearing, its momentum and, eventually, its audience.

Redford and Dafoe have all the fun, but Mirren exhibits the most talent.

Everything about it is stultifying, unexceptional and dull.

A character-driven suspenser that engages the mind more than the emotions, but neither grippingly.

It all adds up to an acute character study -- but as a thriller, it's too cerebral to quicken the pulse.

It's watchable only if you don't mind that there isn't a shock, a surprise or a message in its 91 minutes.

You want to see this one for the acting.

When the psychology is incomprehensibly vague, and the thrills nowhere in sight, I'd say the mess is complete.

A precise, chilly brand of filmmaking that's hard to warm up to.

The benefits of seeing this movie may not be worth the patience necessary to get through it.