The Woodsman Starring Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgewick
Staring Kevin Bacon as a recently released from prison Pedophile and his real life wife Kyra Sedgewick as a lesbian-esque , school of hard knocks type that is somehow drawn to Bacons Walter even after learning of his not so glamorous past.
The writing in the Woodsman couldn’t be better, but I lean heavily upon the acting. The dialogue is great mind you, but it is sparse as the acting is really what tells us the story of this man, his past and his current state of figuring out the future without little girls in it.
Bacon, known best for his lead performance in Footloose has delved deep into the psyche of a repentant pedophile and in return we as an audience are blessed with a stunningly beautiful and yet disturbing movie.
Kassel seems to strive to make the audience feel torn between loving this man and hating him for his very taboo crimes. Fact of the matter is very few pedophiles actually have a normal life after being released from prison.
Bacons Walter is thrust back into the real world and sadly been placed in an apartment immediately across the street from a schoolyard. The storyline has us immediately immersed in his daily struggles from riding a bus to and from work to spying on a man who is actively seeking out young boys to fulfill his own needs.
Walter meets Vickie (Sedgewick) at his place of work where he is almost immediately ousted because of his past crimes by co-worker Mary Kay (Eve). Walter and Vickie fall into a sexual relationship and later Walter reveals to her the reasons for his past in prison.
Vickie first gives us a taste of disbelief and then proceeds to act as though he has just told her he went to prison for stealing a pack of gum. That is the only part of this story that was a little unbelievable to me as the viewer.
Given Vickie’s past of being molested by her not one, but count them, three brothers, it was a bitter pill to swallow.
Overall The Woodsman, although a bit of a subject nobody wants to watch and does have its creepy moments of when you think Walter may fall off the wagon, is beautifully acted and wonderfully written. It’s a wonder why Bacon and Sedgewick have not teamed up before this movie; their chemistry is so well crafted you never believe it isn’t real.
