The Woodsman

Kassell's feature debut is not for the faint-hearted. How do you not depict a convicted pedophile of young girls as a monster? It's a measure of Bacon's talents as Walter that if you can't sympathize with his character (and you're not asked to), you do come to some understanding of his torment. Recently paroled after a 12-year prison term, Walter finds a job in a lumberyard and an apartment opposite a grade school. As Walter struggles to keep his sexual impulses in check, he starts his first adult relationship with equally scarred co-worker Vickie (Bacon's wife Sedgwick), even as receptionist Mary-Kay (Eve) and cop Lucas (Mos Def) become suspicious of withdrawn Walter's behavior. Disturbing without becoming explicit and with a sliver of hopefulness in its resolution. Co-writer Fechter adapted from his play.