The Clearing (2004)

Starring Robert Redford, Helen Mirren and Willem Dafoe, this thriller misfires and confuses the audience. The unconventional editing is partly responsible – we get the same event told from two perspectives sequentially instead of cutting from one drama to the other in real time.

The pace is too slow to develop any sense of tension, and in any case the film ends up pulling in more than one direction by adding an examination of the relationship between Redford’s and Mirren’s characters. Their performances are somewhat flat and unconvincing, too. Disappointing.