Casual Critic Mini Reviews

The Woodsman (USA) (Newmarket) (2004) ***Year: 2004iMDB

Director: Nicole Kassell Cast: Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Def Mos

The Woodsman provides a solid depiction of the struggle of an ex-convict to rebuild his life. As society has a hard time forgiving the type of crime that he committed (I would rather not divulge the nature of the crime since it makes the first 15-20 minutes of the movie even more interesting), Walter (Bacon) also has to fight his own daemons in his attempt to become "normal". The movie is very well paced and subtle in depicting the psychological struggle that Walter goes through.

However, ultimately, all the pieces conveniently fall into place and while Walter is far from being cured of his guilt and obsessions, he clearly finds the right path. Furthermore Sgt Lucas's character (Def Mos) is a walking contradiction, a person that hates Walter's type with passion, yet he seems understanding and almost supportive at points. Truth be told Lucas's character, in his brief appearances, is better developed than most lead characters in other movies. So perhaps The Woodsman's slight failure comes from the fact that it tries too hard to develop too many complex characters while it ultimately tells a quite predictable, albeit unusual, story.