THE CLEARING

[ 1/2] (Two and one-half stars)

Classy but unexciting. Running time: 91 minutes. Rated R (brief profanity). At the Empire, the Chelsea, the Loews Village, others.

‘THE Clearing” is an extremely well-acted thriller that simply fails to thrill.

Robert Redford gives perhaps his deepest and most unguarded performance as Wayne, a multimillionaire businessman abducted from the driveway of his lavish estate in the Pittsburgh suburbs.

Writer Justin Haythe and director Pietier Jan Brugge use an unusual narrative structure: Part of the film depicts Wayne’s interactions with Arnold (Willem Dafoe), the soft-spoken man who kidnaps him and marches him into a wooded area, where Arnold claims that Wayne will be turned over to his confederates.

These scenes, from a single day, are intercut with other episodes taking place over several weeks featuring Wayne’s wife and childhood sweetheart, Eileen (Helen Mirren), and family as they cope with the kidnapping. A sympathetic FBI agent (Matt Craven) tries to help.

Redford, who for once looks every day of his 67 years, gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Wayne, a retired used-car magnate who uses a variety of techniques in an attempt to manipulate Arnold – who turns out to be an employee his company laid off eight years earlier.

Cast against type, Dafoe does nuanced work in what could have been a standard loser role.

As psychologically insightful as the two men’s back-and-forth gets, there is also considerable emotional truth rendered in portraying the ordeal of Eileen, who receives scant emotional support from her self-involved daughters (Alessandra Nivola and Melissa Sagemiller).

It all adds up to an acute character study – but as a thriller, it’s too cerebral to quicken the pulse.

Brugge, a respected producer (“Bullworth,” “The Insider”), is making his directing debut with “The Clearing.” Unfortunately, he seems reluctant to get his hands dirty with the kind of violence – or urgency – needed to lend credibility to the story.