The Woodsman (2004)

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, All Movie Guide