Review of The Woodsman (2004), please enjoy reading it.
The issue at hand in this movie is child molestation. Not an easy subject of course. I think we saw some elements of this subject already in Mystic River, but this movie looks at this matter from a different perspective and goes deeper. We see the life of a man, Walter (an excellent Kevin Bacon), who just got on parole after being in jail for 10 years because of child molest.
We see him struggle with his past, and him trying to start a new life. All while we, the audience, watch it, we start to think. Does this man deserve a new life? Should we give him a second chance? Aren't the odds against him? What would i do if i had children and this guy would live next to me? The movie is great at doing this. While the movie evolves, we even start to question ourselves 'If i feel sorry for him, what does that make me?' , 'How can i feel bad for this guy?'. In the end, we may never know. There is no clearcut answer, one moment you will say these guys never deserve to be part of society again, another moment you will feel like they have been punished enough for sitting in jail for a lot of years.
The movie rounds it up in less then 85 minutes, which might feel short for some but the movie feels complete. The only minor issue i have with the movie is that a lot of things happen in Walter's life when he's on parole, the odds for someone experiencing this are just too low, so that feels a bit unrealistic, but then again, a lot happening means a lot of substance and a lot to see and again a lot to think about.
Some memorable things happening though, and some memorable quotes and metaphores. Who can forget the girl talking about the birds 'They let you watch them, if they know you won't harm them'. Also the metaphor of the woodsman, from a fairytale of which i lost the name.
I think this movie proofs once again, that the real gems in movies have to be found in the smaller productions, the independent productions with limited screens. These movies deserve and should have broader audience though, but truth to be said, the majority of the world usually isn't waiting for something that handles an issue like this.
Last but not least for all the readers here, if you enjoyed this movie as much as i did, you might wanna try the movie called Mean Creek, i promise you you won't be disappointed.
The issue at hand in this movie is child molestation. Not an easy subject of course. I think we saw some elements of this subject already in Mystic River, but this movie looks at this matter from a different perspective and goes deeper. We see the life of a man, Walter (an excellent Kevin Bacon), who just got on parole after being in jail for 10 years because of child molest.
We see him struggle with his past, and him trying to start a new life. All while we, the audience, watch it, we start to think. Does this man deserve a new life? Should we give him a second chance? Aren't the odds against him? What would i do if i had children and this guy would live next to me? The movie is great at doing this. While the movie evolves, we even start to question ourselves 'If i feel sorry for him, what does that make me?' , 'How can i feel bad for this guy?'. In the end, we may never know. There is no clearcut answer, one moment you will say these guys never deserve to be part of society again, another moment you will feel like they have been punished enough for sitting in jail for a lot of years.
The movie rounds it up in less then 85 minutes, which might feel short for some but the movie feels complete. The only minor issue i have with the movie is that a lot of things happen in Walter's life when he's on parole, the odds for someone experiencing this are just too low, so that feels a bit unrealistic, but then again, a lot happening means a lot of substance and a lot to see and again a lot to think about.
Some memorable things happening though, and some memorable quotes and metaphores. Who can forget the girl talking about the birds 'They let you watch them, if they know you won't harm them'. Also the metaphor of the woodsman, from a fairytale of which i lost the name.
I think this movie proofs once again, that the real gems in movies have to be found in the smaller productions, the independent productions with limited screens. These movies deserve and should have broader audience though, but truth to be said, the majority of the world usually isn't waiting for something that handles an issue like this.
Last but not least for all the readers here, if you enjoyed this movie as much as i did, you might wanna try the movie called Mean Creek, i promise you you won't be disappointed.
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