The Clearing (DVD)

The Clearing didn't exactly get much publicity, which is not quite understandable considering its cast consisting of Robert Redford, Willem Dafoe and Helen Mirren, but then again who exactly is the audience for a slowly told kidnapping story made up of a 67-year-old man being kidnapped by a 49-year-old man? Whoever the audience is, it certainly is not marketable to teenagers, who seem to be dominating the movie going audience.

Missing out on a PG-13 rating due to language The Clearing definitely has a specific audience, but even the 40+ year-old women that once found Robert Redford to be quite the heart throb probably find him a bit distasteful in looks considering he is definitely showing his age.

All those meaningless details aside, what is more important is whether or not The Clearing is a good movie and worth your time. As far as that goes this is an okay movie that has several good ideas and a great ending. Unfortunately, this is a movie that should be a thriller that turns into a slow moving drama that doesn't captivate the audience until the final minutes of the film.

As far as special features go there is a commentary with the director, film editor and screenwriter along with a group of deleted scenes with optional director commentary, but neither of these features a worth the price of a DVD.

The Clearing will find a larger audience on DVD thanks to the presence of Redford, but as far as the quality of improving on its lackluster box-office performance I wouldn't count on it.