I just can't say many great things about this picture. "The Clearing" is a pointless film with a great cast, good dialogue and unfortunately, little production value or voice.

"The Clearing," written and directed by Pieter Jan Brugge, his debut for both, is about the kidnapping of businessman Wayne Hayes by a disgrunted employee named Arnold. However, Arnold wasn't his employee. He was employed by a company Hayes' company contracted and terminated services with many months previous. Yeah, I was confused too.

Arnold keeps Hayes at gun point, walking him through this forrest to a place where those who hired Arnold await them. During this time, Arnold and Hayes talk about stuff; Hayes' affair with another women, the rate of unemployment in America, just to name a few.

Meanwhile, the FBI sits with Hayes' wife, while she gets ransom demands. The FBI keeps telling her to get proof Hayes is alive, but she goes against their advice. She eventually confronts the lady her husband has been seeing behind her back; a scene which adds nothing to the picture.

Eventually, we are given clues that the timeline of the picture is mixed up, and the ransom demands were actually received AFTER Hayes and Arnold reached the clearing.

Then there is a question of whether or not Hayes is still alive. In the end--yes, I'm giving it away, we find out Hayes was killed, and the wife is swindled out of the ransom money by Arnold, who was acting alone. There were so many clues leading to this ending, when it comes, its NO shock.

So, Arnold is really dumb and runs off spending marked $100 bills at the SAME supermarket, and he is quickly caught. When he's asked why he did it, he basically answers, "Cause I needed the money, and I could." Woah. Is that complex or what?

That is the greatest weakness of this story and this picture. It lacks thought on the part of the viewer. It's a very mundane and boring story, which leads nowhere and barely presents a lesson. I feel it was a waist of solid, proven acting talent, like Robert Redford (Sneakers) as Hayes, Willem Dafoe (Shadows of the Vampire) as Arnold and Helen Mirren (Madness of King George) as wife Eileen Hayes, all of which are Academy Award® nominees. Redford has one, but not for acting.

In closing, I say skip "The Clearing." If you want a far more complex kidnapping movie, go rent "The Crying Game" or "Ransom," or even "The Running" from DockRat Entertainment--plug, plug.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?