EIFF Review: The Woodsman

Posted by: Scott Hayes  •  October 18, 2004 @ 11:59am

Filed under: Reviews

Walter was in jail for 12 years for child molestation. But that doesn't make him a bad guy, does it? Director Nicole Kassell explores the duality of the nature of a beast, a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Walter may have a compulsion, but the audience does feel sympathy for him. Kevin Bacon does a fair job of portraying a guy with demons that he tries to fight but can't win against. My main objection to this 'fair treatment' is that we are never told exactly what he did to his victims, only Walter himself says that he "never hurt them". Isn't that what all pedophiles say? I felt that I didn't truly get a chance to hate him for what he is even though I do see him suffer.

That being said, there was a lot of room for Kassel to flesh out storylines and characters, but instead she opted for brevity. This simplicity of form indicates that the dual point to The Woodsman is that he knows exactly what he is (which is something many of us don't get) and he's in the fight of his life to change it. Casting Kevin Bacon was a good call considering the automatic likeability factor, which is totally necessary for a role like this.