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©2002-2024
Kevin Michael Vance
Writer - Portland, Oregon
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Go Back To Reviews
Title: The Woodsman
Director: Nicole Kassell
Year: 2004
Reviewed: May 03, 2005
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Four Course Meal-Highest Rating |
[Rating Definitions]
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The Woodsman is astonishing. Yet at the same time it is one of the most difficult films I have attempted to review. The subject matter alone is enough to make the majority of moviegoers in America never... ever think to rent this film. However, that would be a shame. Again, I stress that The Woodsman is not an easy film, but it deserves a look, if only to... maybe not necessarily understand, but see a glimpse of, the very heart and mind of darkness.
The Woodsman is an incredible screenplay and I applaud the writer for even attempting such a sensitive and sinister subject matter. Brilliant beyond any stretch of the very definition of the word, the screenplay for The Woodsman allows you to feel sympathy for the vilest of criminals… a pedophile, and it does this without ever shirking its responsibility to the truth or the gravity of the main characters crimes.
Now, this is not to say that I condone pedophilia. I do not. Crimes against children are, in my humble opinion, the worst crime a human can ever commit. In fact, I go so far as to say that a pedophile, even worse a serial pedophile, should have the word "Pedophile" tattooed into his (it is usually a male) forehead. Why? The victims of such heinous crimes must live with what has been done to them for the rest of their lives, carrying the scars- mental, emotional and physical- of abuse. Therefore, so should the perpetrator of those crimes. He should walk the land forever cursed with the knowledge that everyone knows who and what he is, never able to rest, never able to find comfort, until he is completely isolated, or dead. That is how I feel. That is how I have always felt. Which makes The Woodsman that much more brilliant. I felt for Walter. I could feel his pain and his struggle and his shame. This was due in part to Steven Fetcher's remarkable screenplay, and also in part to Kevin Bacon, whose somewhat silly career has been eternally legitimized by this one performance. Bacon was so convincing, so astounding, so honest I cannot imagine anyone playing this part, but him. There is a remarkable scene, between Walter and Robin (played wonderfully by Hannah Pikes) that should be disturbing in the extreme. It is not. It is touching, earnest, and heartbreaking, but it is not disturbing. This is because of four people: Kevin Bacon, Hannah Pikes, Nicole Kassell (the director) and Steven Fetcher.
Difficult to watch, maybe impossible, for some viewers, nevertheless, The Woodsmen gets a FOUR COURSE meal review.
Well done everyone. Well done indeed.
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