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The Woodsman
Directed by: Nicole Kassell
Starring: Kevin Bacon
Genre:
Drama
Run Time: 87
min.
Release Date:
January
2004
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
If ever there was a film to make you
squirm, both internally and externally, this is it.
While watching this amazing little flick (90 minutes), my moral compass
was spinning around as if I were standing at the North Pole - that's an
acutely direct compliment to the acting and production of this movie but
not necessarily its subject matter: the redemption of a pedophile.
As many of us would want, if we ever caught up with a child molester,
we'd love to beat the crap out of him. Beat him to a pulp for stealing
away the innocence of a child. Try to pound some moral sense into him
(even in prison child molesters are held as subhuman and often beaten or
killed.) But can we be judge, jury, and executioner - in any personal
moral sense - because of what we "think we know" about a person and
their serious societal flaws? These are tough questions which are all
thrown at the viewer of THE WOODSMAN. Notice I said "thrown at"
and not "forced upon". That's an important distinction. For not once did
I feel that the script was trying to be sympathetic to criminals,
police, or our society. The film shows you both the good and the bad.
The story flows around a recently paroled child molester, Walter (Kevin
Bacon, FROST/NIXON),
who now lives in a dumpy apartment in "Anywhere" USA. But problems
immediately arise for Walter: his apartment, the only one that would
allow him in, is directly across from a grade school playground; a cop
comes by to harass him and tell him what a scumbag he still is; someone
at his job finds out about his past and begins distributing flyers about
him; and a child stalker (nicknamed "Candy") is prowling near the
playground while Walter watches him with both disgust and anguish.
Throughout the film we also see Walter visiting his court appointed
therapist, who asks tough questions, and Walter replies with equal
brusqueness. He continually asks his therapist "When will I be normal?",
feeling the weight of his "illness" every minute of every day. And this
is an important set of narratives, because we see Walter wanting to be
normal, we can feel the internal battle within him as he struggles with
his past and his more uncertain future.
Added to the film is an attractive co-worker, Kyra Sedgwick (Kevin
Bacon's real-life wife), who becomes a strange kind of girlfriend that
Walter must confide in at some point. And when he finally does tell her
why he was in prison, you could cut the tension surrounding both of them
with a knife. I found myself holding my breath, waiting for her to
respond to his history.
But if I held my breath for a moment there, I literally stopped
breathing when Walter follows a young girl into a park and begins
speaking with her. By this time in the film, most viewers probably are
cheering for Walter to succeed in becoming a normal member of his
community. We've felt the terrible pedophile lust trying to move away
from this flawed man, and we're happy for him. But society won't leave
him alone, and now he seems to be slipping back into some horrible old
habits. Or is he? Can this child he follows into the park help The
Woodsman be redeemed? It's amazing to me, too, that the title of the
film is The Woodsman. This is the tale of Little Red Riding Hood who is
cut from the Wolf's belly and removed unscathed. And the little girl
Walter follows into the park, if you watch closely, is wearing a little
red cape.
I'm going to leave my review here, as I don't want to give away too much
more about what happens in the park (the pivotal moment of the film).
But I will say that this is a terribly uncomfortable flick to watch,
which is why you should. If you want to feel challenged in any real
moral sense, this movie is your best bet.
(back to top) |
Image from The Woodsman
DVD cost: $11.18
Purchase:
Tower.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
As part of the research,
director Nicole Kassell conducted interviews with sex offenders and the
therapists working with them.
Movie Quote: "Little
Red Riding Hood! That's it! That's it.The Woodsman, he cuts open the
wolf's stomach, the girl comes out without a scratch..."
Other Actors/Actresses
from The Woodsman
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