Clearing is a film about an elderly couple and their supposed achievement of moral clarity in the harrowing incident of the unexpected kidnapping of the husband.
This very boring, self-important film is another in a series of recent Robert Redford failures. Dutch Director Pieter Jan Brugge should stick to producing. His directorial debut maybe the worst waste of talent ever. The film lacks any real plot or even a theme and the director’s (who is also the, gasp, writer) is conceited enough to think he is defining the essence of marriage when all the movie does is present itself like an utterly shameless kid – who desperately wants to be proud of its inanity.
The characters are drawn out and unidentifiable. Robert Redford and Helen Mirren hardly show any great surprise at the out-of-place kidnapping. They seem to just accept it as another part of their long life experience. Obviously, Pieter is going for that European touch where the boundary between good and bad is merely a matter of curiosity rather than any great divide.
Willem Defoe plays another one of those confusing roles where he is supposed to be the focal point of the film only he just isn’t. Generally a waste. His conversations with Redford are supposed to be the crux of the film but they go nowhere and convey nothing.
Stay clear of this Clearing.
This very boring, self-important film is another in a series of recent Robert Redford failures. Dutch Director Pieter Jan Brugge should stick to producing. His directorial debut maybe the worst waste of talent ever. The film lacks any real plot or even a theme and the director’s (who is also the, gasp, writer) is conceited enough to think he is defining the essence of marriage when all the movie does is present itself like an utterly shameless kid – who desperately wants to be proud of its inanity.
The characters are drawn out and unidentifiable. Robert Redford and Helen Mirren hardly show any great surprise at the out-of-place kidnapping. They seem to just accept it as another part of their long life experience. Obviously, Pieter is going for that European touch where the boundary between good and bad is merely a matter of curiosity rather than any great divide.
Willem Defoe plays another one of those confusing roles where he is supposed to be the focal point of the film only he just isn’t. Generally a waste. His conversations with Redford are supposed to be the crux of the film but they go nowhere and convey nothing.
Stay clear of this Clearing.