The Woodsman
(Columbia Tristar Region 1 NTSC DVD)
(2004)
review by Head Cheeze

Kevin Bacon is a bizarre mélange of bona fide movie star and chameleonic character actor. He simply refuses to be typecast or set into any one mold, which offers up a myriad of possibilities for this hugely underrated yet oh-so ubiquitous performer. In the dark and provocative drama, The Woodsman, Bacon takes on his most daring roll yet, and, as the recently paroled sex offender, Walter, the actor turns in a performance that is at once touching, tragic, and chilling.

After twelve years behind bars, Walter returns to his hometown, where he is given a job, a place to live (sadistically situated within view of an elementary school, in hopes to set Walter up for a return trip to the slammer), and hopes to make a fresh start of things. However, he soon finds that the people he left behind aren’t so forgiving, as what is left of his family would rather see him rot in jail, and threaten to expose what he is to everyone else. When Walter meets Vicki (Sedgwick), a shattered spirit just as intent on rebuilding her own life, he makes what is possibly his first true connection with another adult, as well as a bold step toward normalcy. But when a shady detective (Mos Def) suspects Walter in a recent rash of attacks on children, his determination to see the troubled man back behind bars stirs the demons Walter has fought so hard to suppress.

The Woodsman is a challenging film that calls to mind Todd Solondz’s masterful “Happiness” in its handling of pedophilia, and pedophiles in general. Instead of being presented as predatory beasts, the characters in both of these films are shown to be, for the most part, genuinely decent human beings who suffer from an illness that they simply cannot understand. While Solondz’s film showed us the downward spiral of a character succumbing to his temptations, director Nicole Kassell presents us with the even more challenging premise as she explores whether or not these offenders can be rehabilitated, and if we should even afford them the opportunity. While Kassell and writer Stephen Fechter don’t go out of their way to humanise Walter, they don’t paint him as a monster, either. Instead, he is presented as a man coping with a sickness that he not only understands, but despises himself for. As we see Walter grit his teeth, and smile uncomfortably as dark urges well within him, it’s akin to watching a recovering alcoholic attempt to shake off the need for a drink. The material is presented in such a perfectly balanced way that we neither like Walter nor hate him; we simply accept what he is.

Kevin Bacon turns in what is simply the most understated and emotionally devastating performance of 2004, as he, too, is careful not to sway us in any particular direction regarding Walter. Just as his character is determined to walk the straight and narrow, Bacon seems determined to have the audience do the same. Mos Def is equally as effective, but nowhere near as subtle as the mercurial Sgt. Lucas. To him, Walter is simply biding his time until he hurts more children, and, while much of what he does makes him a bad cop, he does so with good intentions. Sedgwick’s Vicki is perfect as Walter’s unexpected soul mate, and the chemistry between the two actors is palpable, especially during an intense love scene between the real life Mr. and Mrs. Bacon that pays homage to the desperate moment of passion in Nicolas Roeg’s “Don’t Look Now!”

The Woodsman is a deeply absorbing film that features great performances, and a dark intensity that is sure to put off many viewers, as well it should. This is uncomfortable stuff, not only to watch, but to digest, for in the eyes of most people, there is no greater crime than a crime against a child, so to suggest that there is a possibility that those who commit these crimes are anything other than monsters is a bold and understandably unpopular sentiment. When a film comes along and not only makes that suggestion, but successfully conveys it with a story and characters that will, at the very least, make one consider that there may well be a human face behind that mask, it’s bold statement, indeed, made with such conviction that it is simply impossible to ignore.