Clear Cut

Alec Baldwin is masterful as a logger who receives an arrow through the neck ten minutes into this D-grade robbery thriller in the woods since he needed to make at least five other direct-to-DVD films to cover his rent and family expenses since accidentally shooting that chick on his Western and deep-sixing his career. Other neglected master thespians in the cast include that guy who played the security guard who gets electrocuted in Freddy Vs. Jason and Tom Welling. This film should be more viewed alongside other naturalist masterpieces like Terrence Malick's The New World and not between Anaconda films on the Scy Fy network at three in the morning. Thank you, Clear Cut. American cinema is rescued once again.

I got tricked into thinking this was a Alec Baldwin film, which is what honestly drove me to watch this. I am a big Alec Baldwin fan, so when I seen he had a new film I was excited. But I was wrong. He is not in this film long. The film is about a man that's trying to work for a living ends up stumbling upon some bad people in the woods and finds a ton of money, that belongs to the bsd guys. They harm his family and he then goes on the warpath. That's it. That's the list of it. I have seen better films and I have seen worse films. The best part about this film honestly is the outdoor scenes. It's filmed beautifully in the woods.

Clear Cut has the ingredients for a solid action thriller-a rugged setting, a high-stakes conflict, and a cast of familiar faces-but it never quite comes together in a satisfying way. The premise of loggers stumbling upon a meth operation in the deep woods has potential, yet the film struggles with pacing issues and predictable storytelling.

Clive Standen does his best as the lead, and Alec Baldwin and Stephen Dorff bring some presence to their roles, but the characters feel underdeveloped, making it hard to invest in their struggles. The action sequences are serviceable but lack real tension, and the villains are one-dimensional, reducing the stakes of the conflict.

While Clear Cut attempts to weave in deeper themes about survival and morality, it never fully commits, leaving the film feeling like a missed opportunity. If you're in the mood for a generic action flick with some decent performances, it might be worth a watch-but don't expect much beyond that.

Why watch a bimbo in a $10 horror movie make terrible decisions when we've got THIS movie? I've never seen so many stupid decisions made by a lead character in my entire lifetime of watching movies. There are no well drawn characters, there's no real tension here at all, not even a good use of the pacific northwest locale. The special effects, especially the fire effects, are an insult to the intelligence. Alec Baldwin is barely in this for three minutes and his exit is as lamely shot as possible. But no other character is is important as the Clive Standen character is, and we never know what the hell he's up to. Nothing he does make any sense. I'd rather watch lost puppies go through the same story because at least there will be some action on the screen that makes some natural sense.

But you won't find any sense in this movie.

Bloody Action Punctuates this Never-Engaging Story of Gangs and an Undercover Family-Man that Fails to Amount to Much that Solidifies the Characters or Motivations that Make for Something to Care About.

It is Unevenly Spaced and Inadvisably Ventures Cross the Line with the Shooting Death of a Toddler, Wanting to Gain Enormous Sympathy but Leaves a Bad-Taste.

Alec Baldwin, in a Poster-Paycheck-Picture, is Offed Almost Immediately and it's Up to Villain Stephen Dorff (playing to Type) to Carry the Film and the Bad-Guys.

While Clive Standon is an Almost Indestructible Protagonist that has to Fight His Way (mostly hand to hand, but not exclusively) Out of Capture about every 15 Minutes.

It Makes for a Wild-Ride Filled with Extreme and Bloody Action that Keeps the Movie Alive while the Story is Lost in the Woods almost from the Get-Go.

The Movie is One of those that "Thinking-Caps" are a No-No, and Requires a Total Abandonment of Anything Remotely Involving Intellect, or even Making Much Sense.

A 90 Minute Excuse for some Vibrant Violence, but is Stitch Together so Loosely its in Danger of Coming Unraveled Immediately.

In Fact it Does Come Unraveled, Despite some Good Fisticuffs and Grind-House, Old-School Blood-Letting.

For those Action Fans with a Great Deal of Tolerance for Sloppy Story-Telling...

Worth a Watch.