Review of The Woodsman (2004) by Danielle S — 20 Feb 2008

After twelve years in prison, Walter arrives in an unnamed city, moves into a small apartment across the street from an elementary school, gets a job at a lumberyard, and mostly keeps to himself. A quiet, guarded man, Walter finds unexpected solace from Vickie, a tough-talking woman who promises not to judge him for his history.

But Walter cannot escape his past. A convicted sex offender, Walter is warily eyed by his brother-in-law, shunned by his sister, lives in fear of being discovered at work, and is hounded by a suspicious local police officer, Detective Lucas.

After befriending a young girl in a neighborhood park, Walter must also grapple with the terrible prospect of his own reawakened demons. Bacon is truly amazing in his implosive turn as a man so at odds with being in his own skin it threatens to suffocate him in his vein gestures at becoming 'normal' and his body language suggests a crumbling man of sand about to blow away in the winds of society.

His pained, grimace of accepting his sickness only curdles his well intended desire to shirk his monstrous past but will not embrace the touchy-feely psycho-babble that he must endure to delve into his childhood as perhaps the key to his perversities.

It is a modern day witch-hunt, where accusers reign and the accused all face the gallows, regardless of the severity of their crimes. The film is itself a parable, in this way. Walter will have to confront his impulses day by day, finding himself stronger each time to fight them down, since he now will be living with the knowledge that was able to show that strength once already.