Clearing

Theatrical Release Date: 2004 07 02 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 024543152484

Studio: 20th Century Fox

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Mild Violence, Profanity]

Summary: Dutch film producer Pieter Jan Brugge makes his directorial debut with the dramatic thriller The Clearing. Affluent executive Wayne Hayes (Robert Redford) and his lovely wife, Eileen (Helen Mirren), live in a beautiful home in Pittsburg. One day, Wayne is kidnapped by disgruntled employee Arnold Mack (Willem Dafoe). He is then held for ransom in a forest. Meanwhile, Eileen is forced to reckon with the FBI agents as they negotiate with the kidnapper. Alessandro Nivola and Melissa Sagemiller star as the two grown Hayes children. Matt Craven plays FBI Agent Ray Fuller. The Clearing premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Category: Thriller

Awards: Film Presented – Sundance Film Festival

Features: ccDirector, film editor, and screenwriter commentary
Deleted scenes with optional commentary
Full-length screenplay

Clearing

Format: DVD

Release Date: 11/09/2004

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DDS2.0 Dolby Digital w/ 4 channels

Runtime: 94 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,Spanish,French

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Main Titles/ Preparation [4:26]
2. No Later Than Six [1:42]
3. Missing Person [3:32]
4. The Abduction [2:59]
5. FBI Procedures [:11]
6. Into The Woods [4:18]
7. Long Way To Go [1:57]
8. Deception [:45]
9. Nothing Personal [3:28]
10. Center Of The World [2:13]
11. Telling Lies [1:09]
12. Assurances [2:49]
13. Feeling Important [4:53]
14. The Mistress [1:14]
15. Is This Love? [2:21]
16. Everybody Suffers [3:33]
17. Uncertainty [:17]
18. Lost Opportunity [4:42]
19. Ransom Delivery [1:08]
20. End Of The Road [3:13]
21. Apprehended [2:16]
22. Interrogation [1:31]
23. Everything I Need [4:16]
24. End Titles [:06]

Karl Williams

The directorial debut of producer Pieter Jan Brugge, this drama disguised as a thriller is more interested in the psychological journey undertaken by its three principal characters than it is in the trappings of its genre. For much of the film, that creative choice works. There are plenty of reasons, early on, to become engrossed; the fact that the seemingly placid, happy marriage of Wayne (Robert Redford) and Eileen (Helen Mirren) is troubled enough that at first, she is not certain if he has been kidnapped or has abandoned her, is an involving development that touches on notions of karmic payback (if he had been faithful, Wayne would have been considered a kidnapping victim sooner) and reveals the unspoken inner conflict Eileen is suffering (terrified her husband is being hurt, but angry he has abandoned her again). Equally, Wayne's response to his predicament is to deal with it as a business problem to be solved through negotiation and a little bullying -- exactly the wrong stance to adopt toward his self-pitying captor, Arnold (Willem Dafoe, typically, reliably creepy even in the role of a mundane, blue-collar drone). These are fascinating characters, superbly played with nuanced performances, as hypnotic as the rippling waves of a placid pond after a heavy stone is tossed into its center. It's frustrating, then, that the writer/director doesn't sustain his momentum for the entire film. Once the characters' inner lives have been bared, The Clearing (2004) should wrap it up fast, but it stumbles on, and by the time of the "twist" ending (one that is none too difficult to see coming), Brugge has run out of steam -- just when the conventions of the thriller might have rescued his story, if not his protagonists. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Sarah Koskoff  Actor 
Pieter Jan Brugge  Director 
Pieter Jan Brugge  Producer 
Craig Armstrong  Composer (Music Score) 
Karen Tenkhoff  Executive Producer 
Palmer West  Producer 
Jonah Smith  Producer 
Justin Haythe  Screenwriter 
Robert Redford  Actor 
Helen Mirren  Actor 
Willem Dafoe  Actor 
Alessandro Nivola  Actor 
Matt Craven  Actor 
Melissa Sagemiller  Actor 
Wendy Crewson  Actor 
Larry Pine  Actor 
Diana Scarwid  Actor 
Elizabeth Ruscio  Actor 

Country: USA