THE WOODSMAN (2004) ***1/2 Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, David Alan Grier, Eve, Benjamin Bratt, Mos Def, Hannah Pilkes.

Sympathy For The Devil: Bacon's best performance to date

Kevin Bacon has always been one of my favorite actors and constantly proves to be such a truly exceptional one at that. In his latest as a recently paroled convicted pedophile he gives the performance of his career that should entitle him to his first Academy Award nomination (long overdue).

Walter (Bacon) is an ex-con attempting to begin a normal life after being incarcerated for molesting several young girls. What seems to be a large task at hand only proves to be increasingly difficult for a variety of reasons including the fact his apartment is just out of reach of the mandated length he cannot be within the distance of a school which rests – tauntingly like a diabetic a candy factory – directly across the street where he now lives. This is a test he rationalizes and reports this discovery and others to his appointed therapy sessions with a psychiatrist which only makes Walter increasingly uncomfortable as the good doctor suggests he keep a journal and reflect on what he has done (or worse what he may do).

Getting a job as a factory worker in his run-down Philly suburb Walter keeps to himself especially from the slyly sexy Mary-Kay (rapper Eve) who has other plans for the newcomer and instead is befriended by the tomboyish yet open-minded Vickie (Bacon's real-life wife Sedgwick also giving a career high performance with just the right amount of fronting toughness and vulnerable empathy when she beds and eventually discovers Walter's burning secrets.

All of the proceedings lead to a keg of explosive ramifications as Walter tries desperately to walk the straight and narrow but it isn't helping matters as the deck is stacked against him in the form of police Sgt. Lucas (rap star Mos Def in the Walter Matthau role) dogging Walter as a likely suspect in rash of recent child molestings. Sooner or later Walter is going to return to his old form. Or so it seems.

Bacon is truly amazing in his implosive turn as a man so at odds with being in his own skin it threatens to suffocate him in his vein gestures at becoming 'normal' and his body language suggests a crumbling man of sand about to blow away in the winds of society. His pained, grimace of accepting his sickness only curdles his well intended desire to shirk his monstrous past but will not embrace the touchy-feely psycho-babble that he must endure to delve into his childhood as perhaps the key to his perversities.

Smartly directed by newcomer Nicole Kassel – who co-scripted the usually on-target screenplay with Steven Fechter (they bungle it when Walter's play-by-play inner monologue of a perceived local molester makes a mark outside his window is a tad uneasy) – wisely allows her character just enough rope to hang himself before reeling himself back to square one. There is a nice interplay of just the right amount of nervous tension between Bacon's Walter and a little girl named Robin (perfectly played by Pilkes) he espies one day and follows into a local park .

Bacon is a journeyman character actor trapped in a leading man's body but has what so few of his contemporaries do : moxy, talent and the chops to tackle a taboo subject without being exploitative. That is the true skill of a marksman and that is truly what Bacon is.

Walter (Kevin Bacon) is the new man at work. Bob (David Alan Grier) often hires ex-cons and Mary-Kay (Eve) is suspicious. Viki (Kyra Sedgwick) quickly sleeps with the new guy. His only friend is Carlos (Benjamin Bratt). He finally tells Viki that he was in prison for molesting a couple of young girls. After the initial shock, she restarts their relationship revealing her own story of molestation by her 3 brothers. Police officer Lucas (Mos Def) is abusive to the ex-con while his therapist (Michael Shannon) tries to work out his issues. He suspects the man hanging out at a neighboring park is a child molester.

The performances are terrific especially Kevin Bacon who keeps his character tightly wound. Walter following those little girls is super creepy. The camera angles of the girls are awkward. There are a lot of cringe-worthy moments in the movie but that's the point. It's suppose to be creepy but it's definitely not for everyone.

After twelve years in prison, the child molester Walter (Kevin Bacon) is released in probation. He starts a new life, getting a small and simple apartment near a school, and a job in a lumberyard. The tormented Walter tries to be and act normal, haunted by his past demons and having sessions with a shrink, while the snoopy gossip colleague Mary-Kay (Eve) investigates his life. He has an affair with another suffered colleague, Vicky (Kyra Sedgwick),while is also stalked by a suspicious detective, Sgt. Lucas (Mos Def).

"The Woodsman" is one of the best dramas I have recently watched, and maybe is the best performance of Kevin Bacon in his long career. The story touches a very unpleasant and practically forbidden theme in Hollywood, the life of a pedophile. Further, the drama is presented from the side of the sex offender, how difficult is to rehabilitate such a person in a "normal" society, facing his own guilty and shame, and the prejudice of the society as a whole. The direction of this independent movie is stunning, and the performances are outstanding. The underrated actress Kyra Sedgwick (Mrs. Kevin Bacon in real life),Mos Def, Eve and the young Hannah Pilkes are amazing with their very real and human interpretations. The metaphoric title, related to the woodsman that saved the little girl in Little Riding Red Hood fairytale, completes this excellent movie with a "golden key". My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "O Lenhador" ("The Woodsman")