The Clearing

Robert Redford is Wayne Hayes, a self-made man who is so complacent in his life he has no apparent boundaries. Hayes allows a stranger to intrude into his car and his life, without protest, or even later, when in this man’s control, he never sincerely attempts to attain his freedom. There is one sequence in which he demonstrates some gumption, which does not have a positive outcome. The kidnap is interplayed with the family and FBI attempts to solve the problem. Helen Mirren shines as Eileen Hayes—the wife. Her character is pensive, shattered and noble, her role imbued with her own personal dignity. With her character’s integrity hanging in the balance, the ending is plausible. The emotions that play across her face are extremely subtle, as they would be on a woman such as Eileen Hayes. As a consequence, this is one of the best performances ever for Mirren. 

METAPHYSICAL OVERVIEW Given the FBI consensus that a kidnapping outcome is generally predetermined and not in favor of the victim or survivors, would you decide to take a goodly sum of your funds to the criminals that have almost certainly no good intentions or compassion—on the off chance that they may have allowed the victim to live and return to you?


The Bourne Supremacy

The Bourne franchise, long-awaited by fans of Robert Ludlum, writer of the Bourne trilogy, may be somewhat of a surprise to most literary fans…not to worry, though, if they are also movie fans, as these films are loosely based on Ludlum’s work, modernized and quite good…due in large part to the believability that Matt Damon brings to the Jason Bourne character. He truly disappears, as the Ludlum character must, into the cityscapes and situations dictated by the international intrigue premise.

METAPHYSICAL OVERVIEW If one were to have another shot at life, especially if one’s earlier choices had been severely challenged socially, events not-withstanding, it would seem likely that a journey of atonement would be inevitable, as one set about righting their own wrongs, somehow, and whenever possible.

King Arthur

Guinevere steals the show in this version of King Arthur, as the character and the actress, Keira Knightly, outstrip the expectations of the viewer, the script and the original mythos. Recent archaeology and historical analysis and new translations of documents reveal there may be something to the Arthurian legend. 

No surprise, as most legend, religious beliefs, and myth are usually found to be based in fact, of one sort or another, and generally composite heroes and heroines populate the stories…of necessity, many fireside storytelling would have been condensed to allow the gist of the events to be conveyed, without an overlong telling to ‘lose’ the audience. Time slips into the gray passing of centuries and even millennia, the stories gain much in intent, losing a lot of the details. As theologians, historians, anthropologists and linguists perfect their translations, the timelines shift, retaining some of the flavor, as they identify and sort the facts to recreate the possible lives of our best ‘characters’ and match up the little known pieces into coherent new snapshots of bygone greatness. Such has been the case with Arthur, his gallant knights, their ethics, and the eventual decline of the roundtable. 

Clive Owen was gorgeous as this ‘composite’ Arthur, as was Ioan Gruffudd in the role of stalwart Lancelot, Everyone turned in masterful performances to flesh out the shadows of the mythic Knights of the Roundtable and Camelot in all her glory.

METAPHYSICAL OVERVIEW The actual people and events are often more admirable than the myth the storytellers invent.