The Woodsman (2004)

2007 #65
Nicole Kassell | 84 mins | DVD | 15 / R

Kevin Bacon stars in this compelling drama.

If anyone saw Channel 4’s recent Secret Life, this treads very similar ground — recently released paedophile struggles to fit back into the world and avoid recommitting former crimes. But whereas C4’s drama was issue-driven this is character-based; it doesn’t necessarily make it better, but it does make it different. Bacon manages the tricky task of eliciting sympathy and understanding as the paedophile (though perhaps not as much as Matthew Macfadyen did).

A relatively intelligent look at what is usually a mindlessly treated subject.