Movie Review - The Woodsman

SYNOPSIS

The Woodsman is an emotional film charting the life of Walter, wonderfully portrayed by Kevin Bacon, after being released from 12 long years in prison for child molestation. He meets and starts a passionate relationship with Vicki, a colleague from the lumberyard he works in, but still is unable to resist the temptations of young girls' bodies.

Despite regularly visiting a therapist, Walter still has to fight against himself mentally and emotionally everytime he looks out of his window and sees the pre-pubescent girls playing in the school compound. He has even been denied visits to his own sister and his niece due to his previous sexual offences. He only wished to be normal, and tries very hard by avoiding girls to prevent himself from doing wrong again. But one day, he skips his bus stop to follow an 11 year old fellow passenger, Robin, to a city park.

Nothing happened, but back at work, Mary-kay, a nosy secretary played by singer Eve, had searched on the internet and printed out Walter's criminal records and pasted it at the lumberyard. This agitated Walter and he left work early and went to the same park where he tailed Robin to. There he meets her again, and this time round, he asks her to sit on his lap, which she politely declined. After some talking, she revealed that her father makes her sit on his lap too, and after some probing, Walter finds out that her father has actually been molesting her.

A wave of anguish and anger follows. For the first time, he feels the emotional trauma that the molested children feel as he sees Robin shed tears when talking about her father. This burst of emotions was so strong that he even beats up "Candy" on the way home, this man who he has noticed for weeks hanging around the school near his place and picking up random young boys in his car.

Walter's parole officer visits him the next day informing him that someone was beaten up very badly the next before, and also said that the victim was a child molester from another state. The officer hinted that because of that, Walter would not be charged for causing bodily harm. Walter was a reformed man.


MY THOUGHTS

This movie can prove to be slow and boring for some as it requires the audience to "feel" the mental confusion that Walter is going through. The denial of being accepted back into society and viewed as someone normal instead of a "freak' is something very painful and depressing. All these emotions were displayed very well through Kevin Bacon's fantastic portrayal as an ex-convict trying to go straight. We can almost feel his internal struggles everytime he feels the temptations luring him again.

There are NO elaborate movie sets, costumes or special effects in this film, but the actors are all top notch. Even the little girl Robin, was played by a very talented young lady. I highly recommend this movie to those who like their big screen entertainment off the beaten track, or for those who want to walk out of the cinema feeling empathy for those who have erred before.

Hopefully this movie will aid in changing the minds of those who are insistent on shunning others who have committed crimes before. There may be people who have molested, raped, robbed, or even killed before, but if they are truly sincere about turning over a new leaf, I believe each of them should be granted that chance. Who dares to stand out and say that they have never erred before? Some may do wrong in small ways, like telling a little lie, but nonetheless it is wrong. We cannot look down on others just because they have committed grievous mistakes in their lives before. If they were given a choice, I am quite sure none of them would do it again. So please, look at the big picture. Nobody likes to be ostracized for something that they are repenting for.