Believe it or not, you will find yourself rooting for the redemption of Kevin Bacon’s character in “The Woodsman” — a convicted child molester who just spent 12 years in prison.
That’s a huge testament to the depth of Bacon’s performance.
After playing the good-looking, all-American guy for so long in his younger days (in movies like “Diner” and “Footloose”), Bacon has grown into an actor who is willing to take risks (“Wild Things,” “Hollow Man”). This is his biggest risk yet, but it pays off.
Bacon is absolutely haunting as Walter, a woodworker by trade trying to start over with a new job at a lumber yard and an old, run-down apartment. He drops his voice to its deepest register and delivers his lines in a defensive monotone. The sharp edges to his face, which have always made him look so strikingly handsome, help make him utterly convincing as a hollowed-out shell of a man.
Writer-director Nicole Kassell’s filmmaking debut traverses incredibly painful territory, both in Walter’s interior life and as he tries to function in the outside world, and some moments are nearly impossible to endure. One in particular, involving a quiet, intelligent girl played by the confident Hannah Pilkes, is paced and performed exquisitely. Yet it’s hard to watch without covering your eyes, because it’s so suspenseful.
In another scene, Walter lurks behind a group of girls at the mall who are about 10 to 12 years old, the age of his earlier victims. It’s one of a few plot contrivances in Kassell’s script, such as, why is the only apartment Walter could find located across the street from an elementary school? And how is it possible that, right outside his window, another child molester (Kevin Rice) is preying on little boys, in plain view for Walter to see?
There’s enough else about “The Woodsman,” though, that makes it worthwhile, including his relationship with Vickie, a co-worker played by Kyra Sedgwick, Bacon’s real-life wife. Sedgwick provides much-needed warmth as the tough, slightly damaged woman who sees something inside him worth saving. (And after the first time, you get over that uncomfortable sensation of watching an actual married couple having sex on screen.)
Mos Def brings surprising subtlety to his supporting role as police Sgt. Lucas, which could have been a gruff stereotype. He frequently checks up on Walter and antagonizes him, but there’s something deep and pure about his intentions.
His presence is one of the many forces that create an inescapable feeling of claustrophobia. Walter’s therapy sessions, which eventually break him down and force him to face the origin of his urges, also provide a sense of suffocation. The use of faded colors in depicting the film’s blue-collar setting further adds to the bleakness.
While in the end there is the possibility for hope, it’s hard not to admire first-timer Kassell for her boldness in taking on such hopeless subject matter in the first place.