The Woodsman

There's been a lot of talk about The Woodman lately, first because is Kevin Bacon's best performance ever, true Oscar worthy; and second because of the story.

Bacon plays Walter, a child molester who is in parole after recently getting of jail. We don't know exactly what he did, but he's been after 12 years.
He's 'ok' now is what he says, as he tries to live a normal life despite the no easy task of having his ultimate temptation across the street, as he lives in front of a children's park.
Hiding his past, he gets a job in a sawmill from Bob (David Alan Grier), who does know about his past but gives him the job as a favor to Walter's father. There he meets Vickie (Kyra Sedgwick), a tough woman coworker who takes interest in Walter.
Mos Def plays Sgt. Lucas, the cop assigned to visit Walter every couple of days to check on him.

Bacon's acting is powerful, but he'll probably get ignored by the Academy this year, as the movie's subject hasn't been easy to market. The movie is uncomfortable to watch, and nothing happens, but the dialogue is so smartly written and the actor's expressions are so well done that it's not easy to watch.
Sedgwick's is also notable, particularly when Walter tells her about his secret. She doesn't believes at first, and then she's obviously shocked and finally breaks down.

One of the best dramatic scenes I've ever seen comes near the end, when Walter is in the park sitting in a bench when Robin (Hannah Pilkes) comes and sits next to him.
Robin is a little girl, eleven years old, and we saw her before in a previous scene when Walter met her while she was watching birds. But they're alone now, and Walter has just been terribly upset after he was once again insulted and treated like shit by Sgt. Lucas. We are scared about what could happen.
They just talk though, there is no physical contact at all, but the conversation is about physical contact, about molestation, and we know that Walter could go crazy any minute. It's a nerve wrecking scene, sometimes even sick to watch, and it's just dialogue.

That's the kind of movie Writer and Director Nicole Kassell made, so well acted and filmed that even with this subject, we just can't look away from the screen.