How to start with a movie with this subject matter? Believe it or not, I had the DVD of this movie for over a year before watching it. I avoided it, not I think because I knew that I would find it disturbing but because I feared I would find it bleak and depressing. And this indeed was how I felt after watching it. It is obviously not a movie for a laugh on a Saturday night. It is well made, the acting is superb and I really admire Bacon for doing it. You can imagine the reaction of most Hollywood actors if asked to play the lead in a film with this subject matter. So a brave film for all concerned to be involved with. So what left me with reservations? I felt that the relationship between the central character and the (very attractive) lady that he meets at his gloomy workplace was implausible. My understanding is that paedophiles tend not to have successful relationships with other adults, even though many are married. The beating of the 'bad' predatory paedophile by the 'good' paedophile was unnecessary, even though I appreciate that the latter was partially exorcising his own demons. But the main aspect that gave me concern was that although you see the main character struggling to control his desires, the only victim (as far as we know) was a family member, rather than some innocent kid wandering the streets. The intention then is to suggest that this criminal is, on a scale of 1 to 10 not too bad really, a decent guy who strayed into the twilight zone when younger. Is this of great significance? It would have been an even braver film to feature a 'typical' paedophile who stalks and preys upon children without remorse. But then I guess the film would have been so horrible that it would be unwatchable. And so a brave and courageous film and one that I'm pleased that I finally got the courage together to watch. Did I learn anything from it? I'm not too sure and this I think is the main problem that I had with it.
Review of The Woodsman
