The Clearing Reviews

It a rather obscure feature so I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the damned thing but since I always had a weak spot for Robert Redford and Willem Dafoe, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, I have to admit it, the whole thing was rather formulaic and predictable but I still thought it was fairly enjoyable to watch. Indeed, as I mentioned before, I really like Robert Redford and Willem Dafoe and they were both pretty good in this. The directing was also all-right. Apparently, it was the directing debut of Pieter Jan Brugge, a Dutch producer who went to the same film school as me (the Nederlandse Filmacademie). Apparently, the guy managed to continue his film studies in the USA and became a fairly successful producer there (he was even nominated for an Academy Award for ‘The Insider’). It wasn’t really surprising that it was a directing debut but Brugge definitely displayed some potential and it’s too bad he didn’t direct anything else afterwards. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really ground-breaking, I thought it was a decent thriller and I think it is worth a look though, especially if you like the genre.