The Clearing 2004

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: 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. Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: Hollow and slow. Read more

Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune: The Clearing is just an OK thriller, full of standard scenarios and cookie-cutter characters. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It's still worth a look, for the pleasures of Mirren's peerlessly dry performance. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: The brilliance of The Clearing lies in its ability to tell parallel stories and make both equally riveting. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: The acting was very effective... Read more

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: Redford and Dafoe have all the fun, but Mirren exhibits the most talent. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: 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. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: Brugge's acutely observant direction and Justin Haythe's thoughtful script allow Robert Redford, Helen Mirren and Willem Dafoe to give performances that rank among their best. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: An intriguing but dramatically stunted psychological thriller about a kidnapping. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: As fine a performance as Mirren gives -- capturing Eileen's apprehension and sturdiness at once -- Redford is the chief reason to see The Clearing. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: 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. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: The film is written, directed and enacted with palpable intelligence. But intelligence can seem dull if unleavened by wit or excitement. Read more

Chuck Wilson, L.A. Weekly: Redford and Mirren, two masters of contained emotion, keep us peering intently at their faces, searching for clues -- not as to whether Wayne will survive, but whether this marriage will. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: A movie like this doesn't need excellent taste. It needs sweaty desperation, and bitter recriminations. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: The performances by the three principals are first-rate. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Everything about it is stultifying, unexceptional and dull. Read more

Dave Kehr, New York Times: 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. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: It's watchable only if you don't mind that there isn't a shock, a surprise or a message in its 91 minutes. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The benefits of seeing this movie may not be worth the patience necessary to get through it. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: 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. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: A precise, chilly brand of filmmaking that's hard to warm up to. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: What had been an intelligent and intriguing thriller loses its bearing, its momentum and, eventually, its audience. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: When the psychology is incomprehensibly vague, and the thrills nowhere in sight, I'd say the mess is complete. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: You want to see this one for the acting. Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: 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. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: A character-driven suspenser that engages the mind more than the emotions, but neither grippingly. Read more

David Ng, Village Voice: 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. Read more

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

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: It stays in character, small, human, bitter and sad. Read more