The Woodsman
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Movie Reviews of The Woodsman
Movie Review: Absolutely stunning.
Summary: 5 Stars
The Woodsman (Nicole Kassel, 2004)
I am stymied by Hollywood. (Anyone who's been reading my reviews for more than a month is probably already well aware of this.) Every once in a while-- and not infrequently-- a movie that, were it given a chance, would likely perform in a sensational manner is completely overlooked, while films of deep inferiority take over the cineplexes. As a case in point, consider Julian Schabel's wonderful 2000 film Before Night Falls-- if not the best film extant at the present time, easily in the top ten. Released on Christmas Day of 2000, Before Night Falls opened on just eight screens, and drew an impressive (for a movie opening on eight screens) over-$10,000 per theatre. While a select few were treated to a first look, the rest of us made do with such fare as Dracula 2000, which opened on the same day on 2,204 screens-- and in the same time period as Before Night Falls, pulled in less than $4,000 per screen. The worst part is, I'm pretty sure there's not a single Hollywood exec who looked back on Christmas 2000 and thought to himself, "man, we should have given Before Night Falls the big push and scrapped Dracula 2000."
Four years and a day later, Nicole Kassel (currently adapting the late Arthur Miller's The Ride Down Mt. Morgan) saw The Woodsman open on just six screens. It didn't quite make the $10,000-per-screen mark, but it performed respectably enough. In contrast, that year's Dracula 2000 was Fat Albert, which opened on a remarkable-even-today 2,674 screens. Amusingly, it grossed almost to the penny the same amount per screen as Dracula 2000-- $3,747. (One wonders how many of those patrons demanded, but did not get, refunds.) Once again, I doubt there's a single studio exec who regretted consigning The Woodsman to the "let's open it on enough screens to get considered for the Oscars" pit while covering the rest of the moviegoing world in the suffocating crap that was Fat Albert. Are you getting why I am stymied by Hollywood?
There are some films so powerful, so emotionally engaging, that I can't imagine even the most cold-hearted entertainment lawyer not looking at them and saying "you want to open Fat Albert on that many screens and neglect this? Are you mad?" The Woodsman is one of those films. In it, Kevin Bacon plays Walter Rossman, a convicted child molester paroled after twelve years in prison. He goes back to work at a lumberyard where he has previously worked (no one there but the boss was around when he got sent up, it would seem), gets an apartment overlooking a grade school, and goes to see a therapist a lot. (Oddly, a parole officer never makes an appearance.) Rossman just wants to get on with his life, but a co-worker whose advances he spurned is first day on the job (Eve, in a remarkably understated performance) and a cop who hates sex offenders (Mos Def) aren't going to let him be. Worse off, there's a suspicious-looking guy in a white car who hangs out across the street from the grade school, and Walter is torn between his fear of and hatred for the cops and the knowledge that this guy might well be another child molester.
It's a lot for an eighty-seven-minute film to handle, and for the most part, it's all handled with expertise. Kevin Bacon's performance is stunning, perhaps even better than his job in Stir of Echoes. Even better, the rest of the cast supporting him also turn in career-best-or-close-to-it roles, including David Alan Grier in a surprising dramatic turn, given far too little screen time, and Bacon's real-life wife Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer), who hasn't been this good since Singles. The performances alone make this a great film, but there's more to it than that. Kassel has an excellent eye for detail (look at the face of the girl in the mall when she notices Bacon staring at him; her change of expression is absolutely perfect) that can make all the difference between being above-average and being in the stratosphere. In fact, about the only thing really wrong with this film can probably be blamed on the play from which it's adapted; there's one plot thread that is left at the end framing a gaping hole. I'm all for ambiguity, but that was kind of ridiculous.
Still, this is one of the best movies you will see this year. Do so as soon as you can. It's flirting with inclusion in my 100-best list. **** ½
Movie Review: A BRAVURA PERFORMANCE BY KEVIN BACON...
Summary: 5 Stars
This film deals with an unusual topic, as it sneaks a peek into the life of a pedophile. The pedophile in question is Walter (Kevin Bacon), who returns home to try and re-build his life, after spending twelve years in prison for his unspeakable acts involving young girls. Shunned by his community, former friends, and family, with the exception of his affable brother-in-law, Carlos (Benjamin Bratt), Walter's re-entry into society is one that is solitary and bereft of all that makes life worth living.
He secures an apartment right across from a grammar school, because that landlord is the only one in town who will rent to him. Walter goes to work in a lumber yard, where he works for the fair-minded Bob (David Alan Grier). There, Walter meets Bob's attractive secretary, Eve (Mary-Kay), who apparently has the hots for him, but whose initially friendly overtures Walter rebuffs. His eye is drawn to the feisty Vicki (Kyra Sedgwick), a seemingly tough, hard living gal with secrets of her own.
When Vicki and Walter hook up and get better acquainted, Eve takes their pairing hard and makes it her business to find out more about Walter's past. Meanwhile, Walter and Vicki are becoming an item, and when she finally gets him to reveal something of his past, she is initially aghast to discover that he is a convicted pedophile. Walter reacts to her shock by cutting her off, physically and emotionally .
When Eve discovers a treasure trove of information about Walter's past, she shares it with her co-workers. This causes Vicki to come to his defense, and they are eventually reunited. While all this is going on, there are a variety of subplots that further reinforce Walter's isolation and underscore his attempts at living a normal life. He is mandated to visit a therapist as a condition of his release from prison, and it is there that the viewer gets a birds-eye view into why Walter may have the problem that he has.
Walter is undeniably attracted to young girls, and the viewer sees him conflicted by his compulsion. Brief and subtle flashbacks to those events that eventually saw him imprisoned further draw the viewer into Walter's personal demons. The viewer even sees Walter occasionally giving into that seemingly irresistible compulsion, only to see him pull back before it takes him to the brink of no return, his quest for normalcy always at odds with his seemingly innate proclivity. The scene in the park with eleven year old Robin (Hannah Pilkes) is a chilling one, as it seems as if Walter will be unable to control his compulsion, only to be brought up short by an unexpected revelation.
Meanwhile, Walter is eager to mend bridges with his estranged sister, Annette, who, with her husband, Carlos, has a twelve year old daughter. Annette, however, is far from eager to do so and makes her dislike and mistrust of her pedophile brother evident in a number of ways. Meanwhile, a certain Sgt. Lukas (Mos Def) is keeping tabs on Walter, making sure that he makes Walter feels as low as the regard in which he holds him.
All of this serves to create a fascinating portrait of a pedophile. Kevin Bacon gives a stellar, award-worthy performance that certainly merits recognition. It is simply a stunning, tightly controlled performance, and one that will keep the viewer spellbound. If ever there were a performance that was worthy of an Academy Award, it is this performance by Kevin Bacon, which is a career best. It is a shame that it was entirely disregarded by the Academy.
Bacon's real life wife, Kyra Sedgwick, likewise gives a performance that is three dimensional and compelling in the role of Vicki, the woman who was able to see some good in this convicted pedophile. The rest of the supporting cast is also excellent in their respective roles. Kudos must also go to first time director Nicole Russell, who makes her debut with this feature film, exhibiting a certain mastery and deftness for one so young. She also wrote this well-nuanced, metaphoric, and intelligent script. This is a film that deserves to be in one's personal collection.
Movie Review: A bold, thought-provoking film of the highest quality
Summary: 5 Stars
I was hesitant to watch this movie. Especially given the seemingly nonstop litany of violent crimes committed by pedophiles in the past couple of years, one doesn't naturally gravitate toward a movie based upon a pedophile's attempt to reenter society. Most of us don't want to have and most likely cannot possibly have the least bit of sympathy for any child molester, but this issue is more complex than I for one would like it to be - and The Woodsman gives evidence to this fact. This is a movie people need to watch - it doesn't offer any real solutions, but it is extremely thought-provoking and can help us try to better understand the depths of what has become an epidemic preying on our children - and you can't solve a problem without understanding it first. It is important to note that the main character here is not a level-three sex offender; he's not a monster, just a man with a very severe problem - one that he is trying to overcome.
Walter (Kevin Bacon) has just been released from prison, having served twelve years for molesting young girls. We are never told exactly what his crimes involved, although he says he never hurt any of his victims. He was fortunate to find a job at a lumber mill and a place to live (although, most troublingly, his apartment is across the street from an elementary school). He sees a therapist every week and receives regular visits from a police detective, both of which are necessary because, no matter how much he wants to be normal, he still has terrible urges to fall back into his old ways. Society doesn't make it easy for him, as those who learn of his past shun him or threaten him with violence - everyone except Vicki (Kyra Sedgwick), who eventually comes to accept him as he is. Everyone else treats him like a monster - and, when his emotional crisis hits its crescendo, he is driven to the brink of becoming exactly the kind of monster everyone already thinks he is. There's no solution to this; society has to know about these people living amongst them, yet that widespread knowledge represents a brick wall in the subject's road to reform. Again, I'm talking about understanding, not sympathy, here. For any pedophile truly wanting to escape his urges and become normal, society as a whole offers an almost insurmountable challenge - that's just a fact.
Kevin Bacon does an incredible job here - as does young Hannah Pilkes, whose acting in a pivotal scene is on par with Bacon's own. Walter's problems are internalized for the most part, yet so much of what he goes through inside his own head communicates itself to the viewer through Bacon's nuanced performance. Walter does want to be normal, but it is incredibly difficult for him to get to that point when he is basically left completely on his own. His moments of weakness lead to some emotionally disturbing scenes (nothing graphic, of course - not even close); if you're not uncomfortable watching this movie, I would hope our paths never cross. Don't avoid the film just because it makes you uncomfortable, though. It's really a powerful story that culminates in an excellent ending - I won't describe it at all, but I must say it is really a fitting conclusion that builds upon the main character's struggles throughout the film.
As someone who feels all sex offenders should be permanently removed from society at large, I can recommend the film even to those who - like me - see the problem in black and white terms. This movie hasn't changed my way of thinking, but it has certainly made me think about the complexities of the problem and compelled me to look at someone such as Walter as a sick yet still very human individual. The Woodsman may not be entertaining, but it is a bold and important film that will challenge your perceptions and stay with you long after the end credits roll.
Movie Review: Spinning Our Moral Compass
Summary: 5 Stars
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 pedofile.
As many of us would want, if we ever caught up with a child molester, we'd love to beat the cr@p 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 the good AND the bad of all of these.
The story flows around a recently paroled child molester, Walter (Kevin Bacon), 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 pedofile 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 film to watch, which is why you should. If you want to feel challenged in any real moral sense, this movie is your best bet.
Movie Review: EXTREMELY CHALLENGING, BUT AMAZING FILM.
Summary: 5 Stars
The Woodsman is a 2004 movie by first time director Nicole Kassel and stars Kevin Bacon, Kira Sedgwick, Eve, Mos Def, and Benjamin Brath. Make no mistake about this, This IS an extremely hard movie to watch! It deals with pedophilia head-on, and you WILL find this movie disturbing.
The movie jumps right into the life of Walter(Kevin Bacon), A convicted pedophile just released after 12 years in prison. Walter finds the only place that would rent an Apt. to him is right across the street from a school(Yes, this does happen). Walter finds work at a lumber yard with an understanding boss(David Allen Grier), A friendly secretary(Eve), and a 'tough girl' co-worker Viki(Sedgwick). Walter is completely detached from the world, and the only member of his family that will have contact with him is his brother-in-law Carlos(Benjamin Bratt). He shys away from Eve's attemps at friendship, but seems attracted to Viki, and this leads to spending time together, which leads to sleeping together. In conversation after being 'together' Walter reveals his secret, which does not have a good outcome. As the movie progresses, it becomes a major struggle for Walter to ajust to life(as others find out), as well as overcoming his still present attraction to children, and to understand why he is 'sick'.
It's very hard to articulate how I feel about this movie. I found it VERY uncomfortable and disturbing, but at the same time I was compelled to watch because it's so well made.
The story is very real! This is subject matter that is, for the most part, taboo and not done in the movie indusry very often. When watching this, you will have to constantly remind yourself that this is a movie, and this is from a first time director! It is told thru Walter's point-of-view and is more about him trying to re-ajust after serving his time and some might interpret this to be 'sympathetic'.
Perfect doesn't even begin to describe the acting! Kevin Bacon gives the performance of his career! He is a well known actor, but is able to lule you into a false sence of realism. Walter is(justifiably so)trapped in a life mundane and completely void of the things that make life worth living, and Bacon pulls this off very passionatly. Kira Sedgwick gives an equally astonishing performance as an emotionaly scarred woman who is attracted to Walter, and ultimately Bonds with him. Benjamin Bratt is solid as Walter's brother-in-law and besides Viki, is probably the only one who cares.
The editing is great. The movie moves at a good pace, and builds up tension. When the movie first starts, we see Walter's day-to-day life that consists of work, visits from his probation officer, visits to a psychologist, and sitting at his desk staring at the school across the street. Little by little we learn about Walter's mind, and what he did. Like I mentioned, this movie has a build-up effect, and one scene in peticular builds up to a profoundly disturbing point! So much so that I can imagine someone throwing their remote at the television. Make no mistake about it, this scene WILL anger you, but you must admire the acting, editing, and the director's uncompromising vision. If this scene weren't so disturbing, I would say it was Kevin Bacon's defining moment as an actor.
This is a hard movie to watch, but an outstanding effort of those involved. The thing that has me completely puzzled is that I feel no sympathy for those who commit crimes against children, but by the end of the movie, I felt empathy for Walter??(Empathy, NOT Sympathy, just wanted to be clear on that one)I don't understand why, but that's the sign of a great film. For movie buffs this is a must see, but once may be more than enough for some viewers.