As we all now know, and as we all should see in the brilliant bio-pic, "Kinsey," few things in the human psyche are more complicated than sexuality. We are what we love, perhaps. Or, better yet, we are defined by what arouses us. Homosexuality, once universally illegal and the focus of a crusade of lies and hysterical revulsion still voiced by a fossilized, intolerant fringe--I do hope I'm stepping on toes here--is now accepted by most intelligent citizens as just another lifestyle.

But what are we to do for pedophiles? As we should be learning, sexuality among adults is their own business. But touch a child, and all bets are off. Even the coupling a woman and an underage boy, traditionally a fantasy that has generated much locker room humor, is now considered a crime to be punished by law, as it should be. All we have to do is reverse those roles, where it is now a man in pursuit of a young girl and we would all gladly join the lynch mob. But try as we might, we can neither cure nor stop the feelings that some people have toward others.

Walter (Kevin Bacon) is a freshly paroled con who has just served a twelve year sentence for child molestation. He is a man uncomfortable in his own skin, keeping his past crimes a secret from everyone around him, except for his new boss at a lumber yard, and an abusive and unsympathetic police sergeant named Lucas (Mos Def) who occasionally comes over just to harass and snoop around. Walter is withdrawn, fairly unfriendly and justifiably afraid to tell people his dirty secret. The only person in the world who will have anything to do with him is his brother-in-law Carlos (Benjamin Bratt), who himself is repaying the debt he feels he owes Walter for accepting a Hispanic marrying into an Anglo family.

But then Walter connects with one of the woman at work, Vickie (Kyra Sedgwick), a two-fisted forklift driver with a mouth and an attitude. She is touched by a kind thing that Walter did for her, a rarity in a job that has otherwise surrounded her with sexist creeps. In Walter she sees a kind, if deeply melancholy spirit. Vickie attempts to get underneath the veneer of pain and aloofness that Walter has encased himself in, and in so doing she learns not only his secret, but is forced to reveal her own as well.

First time director Nicole Kassell has crafted a quiet film about a terrible subject. In most stories we see the child molester as the man standing behind the door; the unknown, often faceless monster who hides among us, acting just like us until he pounces and takes away the most precious thing we possess: the innocence, and sometimes the lives, of our children. But here he is in full view, though inwardly slinking back into the shadows of his own psyche, a man not entirely whole, and though he may have repaid society for his crimes he will never be accepted by any community. He is less than a man without a country. He is a man who, for many, steals the very air that he breathes.

No actor in modern memory has shown more fortitude than does Kevin Bacon in portraying so unsympathetic a character. Unlike with most villains, where we wish to see what makes them tick this is certainly not the case with the inner workings of Walter's mind. To most of us these thoughts are beyond imagining: simply too taboo and too frightening for us. He is a man sinking in quicksand; a social outcast who fears a rekindling of his dangerous feelings. Even discovering the presence of a fellow traveler in his neighborhood unhinges Walter, and he lashes out, perhaps as much at his own feelings as he does the other pedophile's.

The titled Woodsman is that heroic character who wielded his axe to save Red Riding Hood from the gullet of The Big Bad Wolf. Sitting in a full and quiet theater, surrounded mostly by women viewers, there was a sharp and audible gasp when we realized that in one of the final scenes of this film perhaps no Woodsman would arrive in time to rescue a potential victim. And this is where Director Kassell ends our story, not only for us but for Walter as well; wondering if he is to be the Wolf or the Woodsman.


Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age