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Dom Robinson reviews
Tartan Video
- Cert:
- Cat.no: TVD 3532
- Running time: 84 minutes
- Year: 2004
- Pressing: 2005
- Region(s): 0, PAL
- Chapters: 16 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: None
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: No
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £15.99
- Extras: UK Exclusive Interviews, Getting It Made featurette, Deleted/Extended Scenes, Trailer,Director’s Commentary
Director:
- Nicole Kassell
(The Green Hour, The Ride Down Mr Morgan, The Woodsman)
Producer:
- Lee Daniels
Screenplay:
- Nicole Kassell and Steven Fechter
(based on the play by Steven Fechter)
Original Score :
- Nathan Larson
Cast :
- Walter: Kevin Bacon
Vicki: Kyra Sedgwick
Carlos: Benjamin Bratt
Sgt Lucas: Mos Def
Bob: David Alan Grief
Mary-Kay: Eve
Rosen: Michael Shannon
Candy: Kevin Rice
Robin: Hannah Pikes
The Woodsman shows that the main problem with a paedophile is that, upon theirrelease from jail, they still have to live somewhere..
Kevin Bacon plays Walter, a 45-year-old man who’s just been released after spending 12 yearsin prison for molesting young girls. He takes an apartment, regrettably opposite a local primary school,but it was due to the owner of the building being the only landlord who’d take his money. He visitsa shrink every week to discuss how he’s coping, keeps a journal of his thoughts and begins a closerelationship with sawmill co-worker Vicki (real-life wife Kyra Sedgwick).
That’s the basis of the movie and we get to see how his life pans out in the few months following hisrelease. His intention is to become “normal”, i.e. reformed, but it’s not easy with office secretarynoseybonk Mary-Kay (pop star Eve), his desire to meet up with his sister who refuses to meet him,despite still getting on with her husband Carlos (Benjamin Bratt), and his time is not enhancedby being bullied by Sargeant Lucas (Mos Def, who played Ford Prefect in the recent Hitchhiker’sGuide… movie) who drops by now and then to throw in little mental digs.
I thought The Woodsman was going to be a difficult watch, but for a movie that deals with sucha tough subject matter, it’s just planned out in a not-particularly interesting manner and doesn’thave any kind of finale worth waiting for other than what might happen when he spots another guy, chattingup kids on the street, who he names Candy, and starts of being determined to stop him. However, sincehe has a less-than-assertive manner to those of his own age will he do anything about it?
Many people will shy away from this film because of the topic, but despite it initially being one thatwas out of the ordinary and had in the lead role an actor who is well-known but can do a low-key charactervery well, it just meanders from start to finish and doesn’t really have a great deal to recommend it. Eventhe on-screen chemistry between him and Sedgwick doesn’t come across.
And director Nicole Kassell may have interviewed a number of real-life paedophiles to base her screenplayupon, but were they really a story that could’ve been made into a viable big-screen experience? Not onthis result.
The 1.85:1 widescreen frame is well-framed and has no problems, but has a grim look to it to reflectthe nature of the topic being dealt with. Sound options are available for Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1,but while I went for the latter option, neither will be utilised greatly for this sort of film, the onlytime being some punctuating thuds from the subwoofer.
Extras-wise, we begin with UK Exclusive Interviews (52 mins, 16:9 anamorphic widescreen)with Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Nicole Kasselland executive producer Damon Dash, he who thought Posh Spice’s music career was worth saving. Questions are put to the interviewees off-camera (the text just appears onscreen inbetween the answersfor our benefit) and when Kassell speaks it sounds like her voice has fallen through some dodgydigitised filter. Enjoyment isn’t a word anyone could use with this film, but if you found it worthwatching and wanted to know more then the partly-uninspiring questions will be of interest.
Getting It Made (5 mins, 16:9 letterbox), is another interview in the same vein but withproducer Lee Daniels; there are three Deleted/Extended scenes (8 mins, 16:9 letterbox) whichare two deleted and the last of the three extended but only the latter should’ve been incorporatedback into the movie; and a Theatrical trailer (2 mins, 16:9 letterbox). A Director’s Commentarycompletes the supplements.
Strangely, the back of the box lists the extras as containing a Sundance Channel documentary,Interviews, Q&A with Nathan Larson and Anwar Brett Film Notes, but only the second of these is here,and there’s no mention on the back of the other things listed above.
The main menu features subtle clips from the film accompanied by the suitably-haunting theme music,there are 16 chapters to the film’s meagre 84-minute running time, but it makes no sense thatthere’s no subtitles during the main feature.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.