A movie that starts with an average morning in a marriage isn’t about mornings or marriages. “The Clearing” starts with long-married Wayne and Eileen Hayes in their stone-walled suburb home. Wayne (Robert Redford) gets in his vehicle, stops for a guy who appears to know him, and is abducted. Helen Mirren’s Eileen drinks coffee beside their pool.
Arnold Mack is the kidnapper (Willem Dafoe). He lives in a row home with his always-disappointed wife and her father. We witness him paste a moustache in the mirror and follow him on a commuter train to his abduction job. Arnold approaches Wayne so casually, brandishing a manila folder as if it held vital documents, that Wayne rolls down the vehicle window for him. Maybe he remembers him or thinks it’s polite to say so.
Wayne, his wrists bound, is taken by Arnold at gunpoint into a wooded location, and Eileen calls the FBI when he doesn’t come home. Viewers ultimately realise these time lines aren’t parallel and their ramifications.
Wayne tells Arnold a lot about himself. Arnold understands he’s a self-made billionaire who acquired and sold a vehicle rental firm. Wayne is affluent, lives in luxury, and dresses well, yet he has harsh negotiation tendencies and attempts to persuade Arnold out of abduction. Wayne asks Arnold why the guys who hired him should respect their bargain at a cottage at the conclusion of their trek. Arnold, a non-criminal, listens calmly and maybe agrees with Wayne.
In the house, Eileen encounters a business-minded FBI agent (Matt Craven). Tim (Alessandro Nivola) and Jill (Melissa Sagemiller) join their mother during the vigil and reveal a secret. Their mother feared Wayne had left the marriage. The FBI agent tells Wayne’s children about his affair. Eileen was aware but didn’t want them to know. It sets up one of the movie’s most memorable sequences, Eileen’s encounter with her husband’s lover (Wendy Crewson). This moment is so well-written and done that it avoids envy and feeling and becomes a discussion of emotional reality.
“The Clearing” is Pieter Jan Brugge’s debut film (“The Insider,” “The Pelican Brief,” “Heat”). Brugge and writer Justin Haythe wrote the script. They can produce a traditional thriller but won’t. Instead, the crime drives their parallel psychological images. Wayne and Arnold engage in class warfare as Eileen’s marriage is revealed. Wayne feels he was destined to lead, while Arnold thinks he’s a born loser with one final shot. Wayne feels Arnold lacks the stomach for abduction because of the risks and unknown rewards.
What occurs is inevitable, but you don’t see it coming, particularly because “The Clearing” doesn’t follow typical crime movie patterns. Characters’ personalities, not Hollywood endings, will determine what occurs. Sensing this, fans get engrossed in the tale, knowing that the journey will determine the ending.
It is a must watch for all undoubtedly. The reason behind the immense popularity of this movie can indeed be contributed to the amazing well written plot that takes viewers on a roller coaster. It can be truly be stated that the air of suspense helps in building up the thrill.
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