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The Clearing Reviews
Good performances almost make it worthwhile.
| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 28, 2010
| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 1, 2006
A thriller stripped of thrills -- or, even worse, a thriller that thinks of itself as somehow rising above the vulgar pleasures of excitement.
Full Review | Aug 1, 2004
The easy give-and-take between Redford and Mirren early in the film is flawlessly realistic, but even that couldn't stem the tide of this reviewer's yawns.
| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 11, 2004
An intriguing but dramatically stunted psychological thriller about a kidnapping.
Full Review | Original Score: B | Jul 9, 2004
A kidnapping drama that may be too intentionally low-key to qualify as a thriller but that accrues weight and tension as it makes its way through a forest of repressed emotion.
| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 9, 2004
Redford and Dafoe have all the fun, but Mirren exhibits the most talent.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 8, 2004
The film is written, directed and enacted with palpable intelligence. But intelligence can seem dull if unleavened by wit or excitement.
| Original Score: C+ | Jul 8, 2004
What had been an intelligent and intriguing thriller loses its bearing, its momentum and, eventually, its audience.
| Jul 8, 2004
The Clearing needed the firm hand of a Hollywood insubordinate, not a sycophant.
| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Jul 3, 2004
The acting was very effective...
Full Review | Jul 2, 2004
We are lured into the woods brimming with expectations, but ultimately, we find ourselves looking for the wrong sort of clearing: a way out.
| Jul 2, 2004
It stays in character, small, human, bitter and sad.
| Jul 2, 2004
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.
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 2, 2004
You want to see this one for the acting.
| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 2, 2004
It's still worth a look, for the pleasures of Mirren's peerlessly dry performance.
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 2, 2004
The brilliance of The Clearing lies in its ability to tell parallel stories and make both equally riveting.
| Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 2, 2004
It all adds up to an acute character study -- but as a thriller, it's too cerebral to quicken the pulse.
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 2, 2004
The performances by the three principals are first-rate.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 2, 2004