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Woodsman, The
EMAILPRINTNewmarket Film Group
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 34 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 32 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Steven Fechter
Nicole Kassell
Directed by: Nicole Kassell
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 24, 2004
DVD: April 12, 2005
Running Time: 87 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for sexuality, disturbing behavior and language
Starring Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Mos Def, Benjamin Bratt, David Alan Grier, Eve, Kevin Rice, Michael Shannon, and Hannah Pilkes
A harrowing and moving tale of one man's attempt to re-enter society after twelve years in prison. (Newmarket Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Time Richard Schickel
It is among the best and most delicately managed films of the year.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Bill Gallo
So thoughtful and provocative that we cannot help but become engrossed.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Bacon is a strong and subtle actor, something that is often said but insufficiently appreciated. Here he employs all of his art.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Not to be missed, if only for an unforgettable leading performance by Kevin Bacon.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Elias Sevada
Bacon's performance is so riveting that you no longer see the 46-year-old actor.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Bacon's subtle, assured performance keeps us with him every step of the way.
Read Full Review >Empire Adam Smith
It's Bacon's astonishing performance that is a quiet, challenging and ultimately discomfortingly human voice.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
The Woodsman should be pretty intolerable, but the writing-line by line-is heartfelt and probing, the direction gives the actors room to stretch out, and the performances are miraculous.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
The film's core, anchored by a fine ensemble cast and a controlled, focused performance by Bacon, is completely solid.
Read Full Review >Variety David Rooney
A stunningly crafted work from first-time feature director Nicole Kassell.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Jessica Winter
An engrossing study of a protagonist who variously inspires pity, clinical interest, fondness, and revulsion-sometimes all at once.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
It takes a confident actor to accept a role like this and to perform it to flawless perfection.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Kassell has serious talent. The movie is beautifully shot, and the performances are all spot-on. But like many young screenwriters today, she has overwritten her script to the point where everything is simply too tidy for the messy psychological material.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Connie Ogle
What makes The Woodsman meaningful is Bacon's tortured suffering.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
The film manages the extraordinary feat of forcing us to empathize simultaneously with both the potential victim and the potential villain.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
It's a tough movie with a fearless performance by Bacon and brave filmgoers will be rewarded with a bracing experience.
Read Full Review >The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann
Sympathy for a pedophile is difficult, but surely comprehension may be possible, and Bacon evokes it.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
What is more remarkable is that he (Bacon)has found a way, without the slightest hint of vanity or ostentation, to convey the inner life of a man who is almost entirely shut down.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Kassell's visual influences are evident -- she's clearly a fan of the down-and-dirty films of the '70s -- but the consistently fine performances smooth over the rough patches.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
Bacon conveys the weight of his character's anguished struggles through his economy of movement, and the powerful, spare script is refreshingly devoid of cant.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Worth seeing for Bacon's lived-in minimalist purgatory, but the movie soft-pedals the nature of the desires he's at war with: the fact that they will never go away.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
Bacon's mature performance serves a story that's considerably less sophisticated than he is, making The Woodsman less "brave" and more a slightly better-made movie of the week.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
You can tell that everyone's whole heart is in this project, you just wish that a little more of the heart was conveyed on the screen.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
An honest, honorable indie chamber drama that, if anything, errs on the side of caution. It benefits from a scrupulously observed performance by Kevin Bacon.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
In real life, Bacon and Sedgwick are husband and wife. Their scenes mark one of the rare times an off-screen couple's intimacy enriches on-screen passion.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Melodrama triumphs. But here's at least some muted applause for a fine cast and filmmakers trying to confront the real world and its shadows.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
In a film that's carefully crafted but also airless and overcalculated, Mos Def walks away with every scene he's in because we're never sure what his character is up to, and we're never told.
The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
While The Woodsman gets the psychological profile right, it fails to make Bacon a man.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Overblown melodrama, as muddle-headed as it is palpably sincere.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 32 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jeff M. gave it a9:
Daring and original. Would rate a "10" if the script hadn't made the mistake of unrealistically populating the neighbourhood with an overabundance of child molesters.
Bill C. gave it an8:
A well done film on a difficult subject manner that was done without any heavy handed leanings. Kevin Bacon was fantastic in the part as was Kira Segswick. Difficult to watch in a few places , but acting don't get any better than this.
Tony B gave it a4:
This is one of the more overrated films of 2004 and features one of that year's most overrated performances. Its plot has more contrived elements than it should, and its title is pretentious .
JohnFrancis A. gave it a10:
The basic story is already well stated. So, I humbly will attempt to advance my reasons for my 10: Kenin Bacon is brilliant: he mangages to convey not only the torturous and conflicting emotions of a pedaphile but, in a riveting and more universal display of soulful reflection and anguish, the often brutally conflicting emotions of any "psychological outsider": be they a sexual "deviant"; obsessive neurotic; or, simply, any person who has overwhelming feelings or desires that are in conflict with the "norm" (and in today's political atmosphere, this is a lot of people; thus, I found the film all the more powerful and praiseworthy: thank you to Kevin Bacon and all involved with the film for taking the time to make such a masterpeice knowing it would be seen be only a very limited audience). I was hoping when I searched "MetaCritic" to see a 100. Obviously, I was quite stirred when I saw no less than Richard Schickel give the 100 (if you have not read it, his book on Brando is quite qood reading). The film moved me for several days. Bacon's portrayel is a truly remarkable display of the human condition: or of anyone who has ever had to struggle with any sin and, especially, with the possibility that they might commit it again. The film thus clearly transcends the plight of the pedaphile on a journey of repetance. As a character study, it reviles, if not exceeds, DeNiro's acting in "Taxi Drive". I was saddened to see, as I see increasingly more often even among "professional" critics, that the film was too long or too boring. Sad indeed: it seems more and more that, if no explosions or fake violence, not much interest. Very sad. But, no surprise, again, given how this country has decided to elect its leaders in recent years. In anticipation (and more since I have seen the other reviews) of attacks on the film that it is simply emotional manipulation to feel sympathy for the pedaphile, I say no. Kevin Bacon's performance seems clearly calculated to counter any emotional tugging: he is not a particularly agreeable person, even to Kyra (who tries extremely hard to help him; wish I had such support in my life). You could not blame her for just letting him rot. However, does every tale of attempted redemption have to end in sorrow? As "The Woodsman" shows, not necessarily. The hope that the film leaves lingering is cause for all of us to renew any challenge we have made to confront and beat our demons. I wish all the Walters (Kevin Bacon) in the world success in their battles.
Chad S. gave it a6:
"The Woodsman" earned an "R"-rating from the MPAA, which you would expect for a film about pedophilia. But to my surprise, if you were to excise Kyra Sedgwick's left boob from a semi-vigorous lovemaking scene with her real-life husband, this film might've slided by with a "PG-13" rating. What Richard Masur asks of Dana Hill in "Fallen Angel" is much more sinister and creepy than the dynamics between predator and prey in this instance, you would think "The Woodsman" was the film-made-for-television. My point being, it would've been interesting to see if Bacon could remain sympathetic if; for example, he had a computer and utilized the darker side of Google. Independent film is supposed to push the envelope and reveal truth, right? The film needs to dare us. "I dare you to like Walter after he's done this...and this...AND THIS!!!" "The Woodsman" is to "Happiness", as "Thirteen" is to "Kids"; two movies that never pervades our comfort zones with the feeling of dread and revulsion as did their predecessors. "The Woodsman" is more successful in the way it handles the debate surrounding a sex offender's right to privacy. If that red rubber ball is intended to be Walter's testicle during the moment of arousal, "The Woodsman", in my book, deserves one more "Meta-point".
richard c. gave it a0:
If you like the woodsman, you'll be tickled to death over a film called the aviator. It is just as slow and as boring, but has the added bonus of being twice as long!!!! whopeee!!!
Gareth C. gave it an8:
Disturbing, but an education. Not an easy movie to watch, but excellent performances from the cast, particularly Kevin Bacon. Great directing. When you're up to it, well worth a watch.
