Plot
Writer/director Nicole Kassell makes her feature film debut with the drama The Woodsman. Co-written by Steven Fechter, the original script won first place at the Slamdance Screenplay Competition in 2001. Kevin Bacon plays Walter, a child molester who gets out of prison after serving a 12-year sentence. He returns to his old town and tries to start over by working at a woodyard. Fortunately, his brother-in-law (Benjamin Bratt) helps him get a place to live. He even strikes up a relationship with local gal Vickie (Bacon's real-life wife, Kyra Sedgwick). However, Walter still struggles with his past and the suspicions of co-worker Mary-Kay (Eve) and Detective Lucas (Mos Def). The Woodsman premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 as part of the dramatic competition. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, RoviReview
The "sympathetic pedophile" was purely an oxymoron before Todd Solondz, who included a repugnant -- yet strangely pitiable -- child molester as part of his 1998 ensemble film Happiness. Now, Nicole Kassell dares to make such a person not only the central character, but the protagonist, in The Woodsman, adapted from Steven Fechter's play. Critics had a lot of trouble with this film, some accusing it of letting Walter Rossworth off too easy, others grappling with their discomfort over being so personally confronted by the inner workings of his sickness. But if Kassell paints in broad strokes, it's because the audience needs some amount of spoon-feeding to comprehend such damnable sins, which get disqualified from any normal notion of forgiveness. If there are some formulaic characters, obvious symbols, and maybe a few seemingly pat answers, it's because this type of film is so unfamiliar to audiences, it need not be more than the prototypical case study of the child molester's return to society. At its core, the film asks, "Now what?" Families of pedophiles -- and their victims -- deal with this every day, just never on film. Kevin Bacon's portrayal is anything but simple, though it may be quiet, quivering, and at times shell-shocked. Kassell wants the audience to open up to him, but she's not about to make him a saint, leaving the perversions of his past dangerously close to the surface. The secondary, more pernicious molester stalking the nearby elementary school is too blunt a narrative device, and some viewers will undoubtedly be troubled by the character arc of Walter's new girlfriend, played by Bacon's real-world wife, Kyra Sedgwick. However viewers ultimately feel about Walter Rossworth, The Woodsman is sure to open a dialogue about the possibility of rehabilitation and the sincerity of regret. ~ Derek Armstrong, RoviCast
- Kevin Bacon - Walter
- Kyra Sedgwick - Vickie
- Eve - Mary-Kay
- Mos Def - Det. Lucas
- David Alan Grier - Bob
- Benjamin Bratt - Carlos
Credit
Candice Williams - Associate Producer, Kerry Barden - Casting, Billy Hopkins - Casting, Suzanne Smith - Casting, Mark Bennett - Casting, David C. Robinson - Co-producer, Lisa Cortes - Co-producer, Valerie Hoffman - Co-producer, Frank Fleming - Costume Designer, Thomas Fatone - First Assistant Director, Nicole Kassell - Director, Lisa Fruchtman - Editor, Brian A. Kates - Editor, Kevin Bacon - Executive Producer, Damon Dash - Executive Producer, Dawn Lenfest - Executive Producer, Brook Lenfest - Executive Producer, Marvet Britto - Executive Producer, Nathan Larson - Composer (Music Score), Linda Cohen - Musical Direction/Supervision, Stephen Beatrice - Production Designer, Xavier Pérez Grobet - Cinematographer, Lee Daniels - Producer, Christine Wick - Set Designer, Thomas G. Varga - Sound/Sound Designer, Nicole Kassell - Screenwriter, Steven Fechter - Screenwriter, Steven Fechter - Play Author| The Woods Have Eyes (2006 Film), The Woods (2011 Film) | |
| The Woodstock Jazz Festival (1981 Film), The Wool Cap (2004 Film) |
Copyright © 2012 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Movie Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.
