The film's core, anchored by a fine ensemble cast and a controlled, focused performance by Bacon, is completely solid.
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
It takes a confident actor to accept a role like this and to perform it to flawless perfection.
70
Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
Bacon conveys the weight of his character's anguished struggles through his economy of movement, and the powerful, spare script is refreshingly devoid of cant.
Kassell's visual influences are evident -- she's clearly a fan of the down-and-dirty films of the '70s -- but the consistently fine performances smooth over the rough patches.
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Worth seeing for Bacon's lived-in minimalist purgatory, but the movie soft-pedals the nature of the desires he's at war with: the fact that they will never go away.
60
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
While The Woodsman gets the psychological profile right, it fails to make Bacon a man.
30
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Overblown melodrama, as muddle-headed as it is palpably sincere.