The Woodsman

Writer/director Nicole Kassell makes her feature film debut with the drama The Woodsman. Co-written by Steven Fechter, the original script won first place at the Slamdance Screenplay Competition in 2001. Kevin Bacon plays Walter, a child molester who gets out of prison after serving a 12-year ...more

The "sympathetic pedophile" was purely an oxymoron before Todd Solondz, who included a repugnant -- yet strangely pitiable -- child molester as part of his 1998 ensemble film Happiness. Now, Nicole Kassell dares to make such a person not only the central character, but the protagonist, in The Woodsman, adapted from Steven Fechter's play. Critics had a lot of trouble with this film, some accusing it of letting Walter Rossworth off too easy, others grappling with their discomfort over being so ...more