Clear Cut

Stephen Dorff really?? After such a fantastic performance in True Detective he is continuing to pick such a lousy projects like this. Is he a good friend with Brian Skiba or what? That guy is a fraud, his every movie stinks. He is just a guy with zero talent. Is Stephen Dorff blacklisted or what? Why is he continuosly doing this C grade trash is beyond me. He"s a great actor. I can understand what happened to Alec Baldwin who is obviously blacklisted in Hollywood.. What a waste of talents and careers. Such a shame to see these good actors in this pile of crap. Some directors like Brian Skiba should just change profession, this is embarrasing stuff.

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.

Stumbling upon the 2024 thriller "Clear Cut" by random chance here in 2025, I opted to watch it on account of it being a movie that I had never heard about, much less actually seen.

I was rather surprised with the cast ensemble in the movie, and I have to say that when I saw that the movie had Clive Standen in the leading role, I did harbor some expectations to the movie.

The storyline in the movie was enjoyable. I like what writer Joe Perruccio put together for director Brian Skiba to bring to the screen. Sure, you might argue that the storyline is a bit generic for a movie such as this, but it proved to be entertaining and enjoyable, and that is what a movie is supposed to do in my book.

The movie actually has a great cast ensemble, with the likes of Clive Standen, Alec Baldwin, Stephen Dorff, Lochlyn Munro, Jesse Metcalfe, Tom Welling and Mike Dopud on the cast list. The acting performances in the movie were good, but that was a given with that cast ensemble.

"Clear Cut" genuinely entertained me throughout the course of the 88 minutes that it ran for. But it is not a movie that actually have enough contents to support more than a single viewing.

My rating of director Brian Skiba's 2024 thriller "Clear Cut" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Clear Cut is a complete waste of talent. The veteran actors deserved better, and it's baffling why they took on such minor roles-perhaps due to personal connections with the writers or producers. Alec's presence is barely felt with just a few minutes of screen time, which feels like a missed opportunity. Stephen delivers a solid performance, but it's overshadowed by the overall mediocrity of the film. Jesse, on the other hand, lacks the skill to carry his role, making him one of the weakest links among the more recognizable actors. Overall, the film fails to capitalize on its cast and ends up feeling like a frustrating waste of potential.

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.