‘The Clearing’ is an intriguing character study

A minimalist kidnapping drama, “The Clearing” is more interested in character than it is in plot, and that’s its chief strength. While it comes uncomfortably close to transforming its characters into types, who sometimes appear too blatantly representative of class differences, it ultimately becomes an involving drama of the less-is-more variety.

First-time director Pieter Van Drugge, who produced “The Insider,” draws especially fine performances from Robert Redford, as successful Pittsburgh businessman Wayne Hayes, and Helen Mirren, as his wary wife Eileen. As Justin Haythe’s original screenplay quickly demonstrates, this is a marriage that has become a little too cozy.

Quick facts Starring: Robert Redford, Willem Dafoe, Helen Mirren, Alessandro Nivola, Matt Craven Director: Pieter Jan Brugge Running time: 1 hour, 31 minutes MPAA rating: R

The opening scenes, reminiscent of the introduction to the married couple in Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut,” show us a pair so accustomed to their marital roles that they seem barely awake. The husband seems especially remote, robotically responding to breakfast prompts from his wife. Their morning conversations have become casually circuitous.

Also like the couple in “Eyes Wide Shut,” their relationship is about to be seriously tested by circumstances beyond their control. One night Eileen invites friends over for dinner. When they show up but Wayne doesn’t, she tries to hide the fact that she’s peeved. Shortly after the guests have left, however, she phones in a missing person report.

What she doesn’t know, but the audience soon learns, is that he’s been abducted by an apparently unemployable criminal, Arnold Mack (the excellent Willem Dafoe), whose marriage is in much more trouble than theirs. An FBI agent (Matt Craven) turns up, shattering what privacy Wayne and Eileen had by revealing what Eileen already knew — that Wayne had been having an affair — and something she didn’t know: that the affair was far from over. Wayne and Eileen’s distraught, grown children (Alessandro Nivola, Melissa Sagemiller) move in and vent their frustration.

What distinguishes “The Clearing” from other kidnapping dramas is the strange, almost comically absurd relationship that develops between the once-confident Wayne and the self-destructive Arnold. The power that Wayne would ordinarily have over Arnold vanishes as soon as a gun enters the picture.

Wayne uses various ruses to gain the upper hand, while Arnold reveals the depths of his depression (he’s living with his wife and father-in-law, in “a household of disappointed people”) and he invents excuses about his role in what appears to be a larger kidnapping scheme (“I’m just doing my part”).

Meanwhile, arrangements are made for a ransom to be delivered, and the FBI agent assures Eileen that the kidnapper is just trying to show her who’s in control. The question of whether Wayne will survive is always in the foreground. So is the fear that no one really has control of this dicey situation.

Asked an innocent question by Wayne, Arnold responds “I’m not a photographer,” and Dafoe gives this seemingly bland, factual statement the quality of a mortal threat. Van Drugge stays focused on three people who are always on edge, always in danger of overreacting to the mildest of provocations. The movie may seem a little glacial at times, but its understatement has surprising force.

MORE FROM AT THE MOVIES

‘Body of Lies’ deserves a swift burial

‘Body of Lies’ deserves a swift burial Keep driving past ‘City of Ember’ ‘RocknRolla’ will run you over ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’ is a sprightly delight ‘Blindness’ assaults audience with metaphor ‘How to Lose Friends’ plays it too safe ‘Nick & Norah’ fail to connect Reception party ruins ‘Rachel Getting Married’ ‘Flash of Genius’ lacks script smarts ‘Religulous’ preaches to choir in a hilarious way   Add At the movies headlines to your news reader: