Line #10 Film/TheWoodsman


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_woodsman.jpeg]]
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3	A 2004 American independent drama film directed by Nicole Kassell, [[TheFilmOfThePlay adapted from]] the play of the same name by Steven Fechter, who cowrote the screenplay adaptation with Kassell. The cast includes Creator/KevinBacon, Creator/KyraSedgwick, Music/{{Eve\|Rapper}}, Music/MosDef, Creator/DavidAlanGrier, and Creator/BenjaminBratt.
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5	Walter (Bacon), a convicted child molester, returns to his hometown after 12 years in prison, gets a job in a lumberyard and attempts to start a new life. Terrified of his co-workers finding out about his past, he mostly keeps to himself, until he meets the tough-talking Vicki (Sedgwick), who promises not to judge him for his history. But Walter himself cannot escape his past and the reawakening demons inside of him.
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8	!!This film provides examples of:
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10	* AllAbusersAreMale: Walter, "Candy", [[spoiler: Vicki's brothers, Robin's father]]... even the worker in the lumbermill who is abusive toward Vicki.
11	* AllJustADream: Walter is often shown in situations involving kids. Most of the time it's revealed that he's daydreaming and fighting against his dark side.
12	* AntiHero: Walter is a former child molester, so depending on the viewer's opinion, he can be either an UnscrupulousHero with vigilante tendencies, or an outright AntiVillain with his temptations toward minors.
13	* TheAtoner: Walter. He really wants to pay back for his past deeds. Going by [[spoiler: a vision of himself getting the beating while attacking "Candy"]], he hates himself for what he did.
14	* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Carlos is the only person who didn't turn his back on Walter, because Walter was the only one who didn't turn ''his'' back on Carlos when the latter married Walter's sister.
15	-->'''Walter:''' You know, you're the only member of the family still speaking to me.
16	-->'''Carlos:''' Yeah, well, I remember when they all gave Annette shit because she married the brown-skinned boy from down the street. Except her brother.
17	** The relationship between Vicki and Walter starts thanks to this.
18	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Mary-Kay falls squarely under this. Under that sugar-coated smile hides a manipulative personality. She never stops snooping around Walter with truly unhealthy fixation about him and then unleashes a hate campaign against him that almost turns into a lynch. Never mind Walter doing his best to start a new life with a clean slate, she deliberately ruins his chance to do so, with a flimsy excuse of "because everyone should know". Her method causes nothing but trouble in the workplace as a result and if anything given how Walter hasn't done anything to any of his/her co-workers that she knows about, the problem should more be with her boss for hiring him in the first place. But she creates an enemy out of a guy who wasn't truly an enemy at that point.
19	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Walter's secret is out, his family and friends still refuse to forgive him, but Walter is optimistic that he can change.]]
20	* BrotherSisterIncest: [[spoiler: Vicki was a victim of this. [[{{Squick}} From all of her three brothers]] ]].
21	* ColorMotif: Robin's red jacket, an echo of Little Red Riding Hood.
22	* CutApart: In one scene both Walter and Vicki are looking through window, like they are observing each other, culminating with Vicki asking what someone is looking at. Then it's revealed they are just looking at their own reflections in glass.
23	* DarkAndTroubledPast: Both Walter and Vicki. Probably also Lucas.
24	* DarkIsEvil: Thanks to casting, the only hostile and abusive characters--Lucas and Mary-Kay--are played by black people.
25	** The same may apply in a comparison of Vicki and Mary-Kay, with the fair-skinned blonde as "good", and the black woman as "evil".
26	** Lucas is a subversion. While hostile to and disgusted by Walter, he's also very conversational, talking [[HiddenDepths furniture and plants]]. At the very least, he's AffablyEvil mixed with KnightTemplar. He's not a villain by any measure, and has a right to be suspicious of Walter. And in the end, [[spoiler: it's obvious that Lucas knows that Walter is the one who assaulted "Candy", yet he leaves him alone because he sees that Walter did the right thing]].
27	* DeadpanSnarker: Walter's main weapon against the rest of the world. Vicki quickly proves she's no slouch either when it comes to being snarky.
28	* EatingLunchAlone: By his own choice, Walter sits alone in the mill's cafeteria.
29	* FreudianExcuse: Vicki's very strong reactions toward abuse comes from [[spoiler: her brothers molesting her]].
30	* GenderIsNoObject: Vicki is working as hard as anyone else in the lumbermill.
31	* HiddenDepths: In one scene, Lucas talks about contemporary furniture and wood. In another scene, he warns Walter about the amount of sunlight his ivy is getting.
32	* IJustWantToBeNormal: Walter is constantly afraid that he won't ever be able to call himself a normal person.
33	* InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers: Expected from a film about a child molester fighting his inner demons and getting closer and closer to an 11-year-old girl. But the prize goes to "Candy", who casually earns the trust of young boys and takes them for a ride in his car...
34	* JobTitle: Although meant poetically with Walter echoing the woodsman in ''Little Red Riding Hood''.
35	* LetOffByTheDetective: It's heavily hinted that Lucas [[spoiler: knew who beat "Candy" and can prove that]]. Yet he leaves Walter alone.
36	* MistakenForGay: Walter is joking about taking Vicki for a dyke, and she later jokes about not being a lesbian tonight... or was it a joke?
37	* NobleBigotWithABadge: Lucas is more than hostile toward Walter. Thanks to later scenes, [[CharacterDevelopment his attitude is more and more explained]]. In the end, his relationship with Walter is a form of very, very OddFriendship.
38	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Walter on "Candy". Part from it comes from being a VigilanteMan, and part from Walter's hatred toward himself--for a short moment, he sees the fight as if he's beating himself.
39	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: "Candy".
40	* PrisonRape: Implied with Walter, who freaks out when his therapist starts talking behind his back. He was in prison for over a decade, so it is likely. And TruthInTelevision, since other prisoners don't particularly like pedophiles, leading many to be segregated for their own safety.
41	* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Mostly averted due to the movie's morally-neutral tone, but Walter's disturbing conversation with [[spoiler: Robin]] falls into this. The scene is framed to show that Walter's done a good thing and reinforces the redemption arc, but he sends her home knowing full well [[ParentalIncest what's going to happen to her there]]. It comes off as though he doesn't care about her as much as he cares about not intruding on another man's property, but it still implies that he's made a positive step and that's what ''really'' matters.
42	* RealWomenDontWearDresses: Vicki can be best described as adult tomboy. Plus she works in a lumberyard, so dresses would be highly inpractical.
43	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Bob. While he isn't pleased with hiring Walter, he did it because of Walter's skills and experience as carpenter. All he wants from his workers is that they do their job. And he's one of two people defending Walter when Mary-Kay's campaign against him reaches its peak.
44	-->'''Bob:''' What the hell is goin' on here? (looking at paper with Walter's criminal record) Who did this? ({{Beat}}) Any man who can't deal with it, you meet me in the office. I'll pay you for the week. [[PrecisionFStrike You can clear the fuck out]].
45	* ReformedButRejected: Essentially the whole plot.
46	* RepeatCut: When "Candy" takes the boy to his car, the moment the doors of the car are closed is repeated few times.
47	* SourOutsideSadInside: Walter shelters himself from other people, but deep down is fighting against inevetable depression, further fueled by how lonely he is.
48	* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Walter was moments away from this when [[spoiler: his coworkers found out about his past, but narrowly subverted thanks to his interaction with Robin.]]
49	* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted. Walter is under constant supervision by his therapist and said therapist helps him "to be normal". It's hard, it's slow-going, and Walter doesn't trust his shrink, but it works.
50	* TitleDrop: When Lucas is talking with Walter about Red Riding Hood, he focuses mostly on the Woodsman saving the girl from the wolf. This also gives Walter the strength to fight back his desires.
51	** And in the end, [[spoiler: Walter is the Woodsman when he attacks "Candy", which alerts the police to Candy's presence.]]
52	* {{Tomboy}}: Vicki. Hard working, hard drinking hardass with a foul mouth.
53	* WomenAreWiser: Vicki is probably the only person who not only accepts Walter, but really cares about him.

Context Film / TheWoodsman