The Woodsman is the first thing that has ever made me feel sympathy for a child molester. It is a thought-provoking piece, for sure.

Walter (Kevin Bacon) has been released from prison on supervised parole after serving 12 years for molesting 10- to 12-year-old girls. The only apartment he can find is straight across from an elementary school playground -- exactly 320 feet, by his count.

He gets his job back at the lumberyard, where his boss, Bob (David Alan Grier), warns him to just do his job and avoid trouble. But trouble seems determined to involve him.

First, the lumberyard secretary, Mary Kay (Eve), makes a play for him and doesn't handle his rejection well. Bob won't tell her why he is on parole, so she does a computer search on him and learns that he's a convicted sex offender. She is only too eager to post a printout of his SO registration for the entire company to see.

Second, Mary Kay doesn't think she has caused him enough trouble, so she tries to create grief between him and his new girlfriend, Vicki (Kyra Sedgewick). Vicki is already complicating his life with her need to know and understand him.

Third, his sister hates him and refuses to let him come to their home or meet his 12-year-old niece. She refuses to even talk to him, though he is close friends with his brother-in-law, Carlos (Benjamin Bratt).

Fourth, there's a strange man hanging around the playground and a child has been abducted. Police Sgt. Lucas (Mos Def) begins to hassle Walter, even though he knows Walter has an alibi.

Last, his therapist is not helping him to become "normal" and he is still having attractions to the young girls that he sees.

Kevin Bacon is spectacular in this role. He plays it to the limit and will have you sharing his pain, confusion and despair. He makes you understand that he is struggling to overcome his problems and to become "normal."

The therapy scenes made this movie. They help the viewer to understand what Walter is thinking and what he is going through. They reveal his frustration with the way he is torn between reverting back to his old behaviors and avoiding life in prison without parole.

The Woodsman is a well-written and well-played film. It examines an issue that has been taboo and brings out an angle that the public is not used to seeing or hearing about. It pulls you into the story and holds you until the very end.

Time Magazine ranked The Woodsman as one of the year's 10 best films. It is riveting!