Rotten
A thriller stripped of thrills -- or, even worse, a thriller that thinks of itself as somehow rising above the vulgar pleasures of excitement.
Anthony Lane, New Yorker
The Clearing
2004 · 1h 35m · R
Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Directed by
Pieter Jan Brugge
Overview
When affluent executive Wayne Hayes is kidnapped by a disgruntled employee and held for ransom in a forest, Wayne’s wife is forced to reckon with the FBI agents as they negotiate with the kidnapper.
Director and cast
- Pieter Jan Brugge Director
- Robert Redford as Wayne Hayes
- Helen Mirren as Eileen Hayes
- Willem Dafoe as Arnold Mack
- Alessandro Nivola as Tim Hayes
- Matt Craven as Agent Ray Fuller
- Melissa Sagemiller as Jill Hayes
- Wendy Crewson as Louise Miller
- Larry Pine as Tom Finch
- Diana Scarwid as Eva Finch
- Gwen McGee as Agent Kathleen Duggan
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
43%
Tomatometer
Fresh
An intriguing but dramatically stunted psychological thriller about a kidnapping.
Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle
Rotten
Everything about it is stultifying, unexceptional and dull.
Rex Reed, New York Observer
Rotten
It's watchable only if you don't mind that there isn't a shock, a surprise or a message in its 91 minutes.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Fresh
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.
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
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