Director: Nicole Kassell
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Mos Def, Benjamin Bratt, David Alan Grier, Eve

- Reviewed by Vickie

This is a movie about a pedophile. It is not, however, a movie about pedophilia. Instead, The Woodsman is a finely crafted character study that asks its audience to empathize with and, perhaps, understand its deeply troubled central character.

Kevin Bacon stars as Walter, a convicted child molester who’s released from prison after serving 12 years. Walter is trying to start his life over but is plagued by the inner demons that led to his previous crimes. His new apartment is directly across the street from a playground. His new job is at a lumber yard where he’s quickly ostracized once word of his criminal past leaks out. He develops a tentative romance with a co-worker named Vicki (Kyra Sedgwick) and is visited on occasion by a police officer (Mos Def), who makes it clear that Walter is persona non grata in the area and that his every breath will be scrutinized from here on in. Adding to his isolation is the fact that Walter’s brother-in-law (Benjamin Bratt) is the only member of his family who will still speak to him.

Walter, meanwhile, seeks counsel and guidance from a therapist in the desperate hope that he can someday be “normal.” His self-loathing is apparent, as is his constant struggle to keep his compulsions in check.

Economical and terrifically restrained, The Woodsman is a powerful film that doesn’t play into typical movie conventions as a way of pandering to the audience. The script is almost minimalist in terms of dialogue, and that allows the actors to fashion characters from within, through expression and action rather than words. Kevin Bacon delivers one of his best performances as the tormented Walter. He manages to create a sympathetic character out of someone that most of us would immediately brand a deviant, a villain or just someone we’d never be able to relate to. Walter doesn’t say much, but his body language tells all. He’s perpetually closed in and stooped in such a way that suggests he just wants to disappear. What’s creepy, and brilliant on Bacon’s part, is the change in Walter as soon as he’s in the presence of a young girl. Suddenly, his face lights up. He’s smiling. He’s relaxed. Friendly. It becomes frighteningly evident how he would be able to manipulate a young mind, and the change is instant.

Along with Bacon’s skilled work, credit has to go to director Nicole Kassell, who makes her directorial debut with such a solid film. She never exploits the material or the characters, and she wisely allows the action to unfold slowly, naturally and however painfully it might unfold. She doesn’t cast judgment on Walter and crafts the film in such a way that the audience is left to form an opinion on its own. The film doesn’t ask us to condemn Walter any more than it wants us to pity him. It simply tells the compelling story of a man who’s locked in a struggle and asks us to put preconceptions aside to learn from what we watch.

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