''The Clearing'' is a 2004 American thriller

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

and the directorial debut of film producer

Pieter Jan Brugge Pieter Jan Brugge (born 6 November 1955) is a Dutch film producer. He was born in Deventer, Netherlands. In 1979, he graduated from the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam, and was subsequently awarded a scholarship by the Du ...

. The film is loosely based on the real life kidnapping of

Gerrit Jan Heijn Gerrit Jan Heijn (14 February 1931, Zaandam – 9 September 1987) was a Dutch businessman, who was a top manager of Ahold until his death in 1987. His grandfather was Albert Heijn, who founded the family business, and his older brother was al ...

that took place in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1987. The screenplay was written by

Justin Haythe Justin Haythe (born September 16, 1973) is an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his book ''The Honeymoon'', and the screenplay for the film ''Revolutionary Road'', directed by Sam Mendes. Haythe liv ...

Plot

Wayne Hayes (

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...

), and his wife Eileen (

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...

) are living the American dream in a wealthy

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

suburb, having raised two children (

Alessandro Nivola Alessandro Antine Nivola (born June 28, 1972) is an American actor. He has been nominated for a Tony Award and an Independent Spirit Award and has won a Screen Actors Guild Award, a British Independent Film Award (BIFA), and the Best Actor Award ...

, Melissa Sagemiller) and built up a successful business from scratch. He is looking forward to a peaceful retirement with Eileen. Everything changes when Wayne is kidnapped in broad daylight by a former employee, Arnold Mack (

Willem Dafoe Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Willem Dafoe, various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for ...

). While Wayne tries negotiating with the kidnapper, Eileen works with the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

to try to secure her husband's release. During the investigation, Eileen learns that Wayne has continued an extramarital affair that he promised to end months previously. Eileen is eventually instructed to deliver the ransom to the kidnapper, but Arnold takes the money without returning her husband; Arnold murdered Wayne the day of the kidnapping. Eileen's ordeal takes place over the course of a week, but the film shows Wayne's kidnapping as if it were happening at the same time. Authorities eventually catch Arnold when he starts spending the ransom money in the neighborhood where he lives. At a local grocery store, he uses a $100 bill for a purchase. The store manager calls to verify the serial number on the $100 bill is on a watch list the FBI distributed to local businesses. During questioning, police ask Arnold if he wanted to be caught, and he admits that the kidnapping was to get money for his depressed wife—but it took him all day to bring himself to kill Wayne and he could not live with the guilt of his crime. In the end, Eileen receives a loving note written by Wayne before his death.

Cast

as Wayne Hayes *

as Eileen Hayes *

as Arnold Mack *

as Tim Hayes *

Matt Craven Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

as FBI Agent Ray Fuller * Melissa Sagemiller as Jill Hayes *

Wendy Crewson Wendy Jane Crewson (born May 9, 1956) is a Canadian actress and producer. She began her career appearing on Canadian television, before her breakthrough role in 1991 dramatic film ''The Doctor (1991 film), The Doctor''. Crewson has appeared in ma ...

as Louise Miller *

Larry Pine Larry Pine (born March 3, 1945) is an American actor. A veteran of the Broadway stage, he began his career playing the role of Fop in the 1968 production of ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. He has since starred in film and television, with recurring roles ...

as Tom Finch *

Diana Scarwid Diana Elizabeth Scarwid (born August 27, 1955) is a retired American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Christina Crawford in ''Mommie Dearest (film), Mommie Dearest'' (1981). She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best ...

as Eva Finch

Locations

The film was shot in and around

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

and in downtown

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Reception

The film has received mixed reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 43%, based on 134 reviews, with an average rating of 5.60/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Though it has an excellent cast, this emotionally detached movie is the kind that one admires more than enjoys." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 60 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". According to

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

, writing in the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'', it "doesn't feel bound by the usual formulas of crime movies. What eventually happens will emerge from the personalities of the characters, not from the requirements of Hollywood endings."

Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' wrote, "The pleasures of this endeavor, directed with a keen eye for detail by Pieter Jan Brugge, come from what the actors bring to the material."

Ty Burr Ty Burr (born August 17, 1957) is an American film critic, columnist, and author who currently writes a film and popular culture newsletter "Ty Burr's Watchlist" on Substack. Burr previously served as film critic at ''The Boston Globe'' for two ...

, in the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', felt that the film had a "lack of emotion" and "could have been more than it is". M. Torreiro, in the Spanish newspaper ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'', described the film a "tense thriller, cramped and made of downtime and sensations on the limit, a strange film."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clearing, The 2004 films 2004 crime drama films 2004 directorial debut films Adultery in films American crime drama films Fictional portrayals of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Films about kidnapping Films scored by Craig Armstrong (composer) Films set in forests Films set in Pennsylvania Films set in Pittsburgh Films shot in North Carolina Films with screenplays by Justin Haythe Fox Searchlight Pictures films English-language German films German crime drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s German films