Kevin Bacon plays Walter, a convicted child molester trying to rebuild his life in The Woodsman.

The most challenging and arguably most successful performance of Kevin Bacon's career can be found in the independent drama, The Woodsman. Bacon plays Walter, a convicted child molester trying to restart his life at age 45 after being released from prison. (The film is currently playing in Cincinnati theaters and comes out on DVD next week).

Everything that makes The Woodsman appealing to an actor -- its grit, its tough emotional force -- has also made it a hard choice for movie audiences. When it comes to portraying someone who has done wrong -- and Walter clearly has done wrong -- American audiences tend to be confused if the character is not played as a clear-cut villain.

"In this case I was trying my best to make him (Walter) a human being," Bacon says, speaking recently by phone. "But can you approach him like anybody else? I mean can you spot a child molester in a crowd? You think there is nobody like that in our world, in our neighborhood?"

Walter receives little support from the people around him -- the secretary at the lumberyard where he works (Eve); the Philadelphia police detective (Mos Def) who remains unconvinced of his rehabilitation; even his brother-in-law (Benjamin Bratt), who's sympathetic until conversations focus on his 12-year-old daughter.

The one person who comes to Walter's side is his coworker, Vickie, played by Bacon's real-life wife, Kyra Sedgwick. She plays Vicki as a foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails broad who tells it like it is. But even Vicki is shocked by Walter's past. Still, she returns to his side, impressed by his attempts to restart his life and to become more than a convicted pedophile.

The Woodsman won the Grand Jury Prize at the Deauville Festival of American Film last September; further proof that hard-hitting American films receive better responses overseas than in their own backyard.

Director Nicole Kassell makes her feature filmmaking debut with The Woodsman. While there are clever camera angles and efficient editing, the film's power has nothing to do with technique; it's about the emotional content of Bacon's performance. Bacon plays Walter as quiet and solemn, the guy next door dressed in an inexpensive flannel shirt and sporting a boyish haircut. He is the man sitting next to you on the bus. It's something Bacon says that comes naturally to a family man who lives on New York City's Upper West Side with his wife and his family.

"I am that everyman. I am that person next to you on the subway. That's who I am."

Asked if he thought twice about accepting the role because he is a father, Bacon answers with a quick and decisive "no."

"My work is my work and my family life is my family life," he says. "Besides, my kids don't watch my movies."

It's worth noting that there are no scenes of graphic content in The Woodsman. But it's often grueling to watch just the same. When Walter sits on a park bench and starts a conversation with a young girl, you want to look away. When he finally reunites with his estranged sister in a city park, their conversation is kept at a distance. His only moment of anger comes when he confronts a predator who has been prowling about a neighborhood playground.

"I didn't want to have the scenes (be) over the top," Bacon says. "He (Walter) is the way he is. I don't think audiences need to be pushed."

Bacon adds that audiences do not need to be moralized and Walter does not need to be judged by the film.

"I don't expect anyone other than myself to decide what qualifies as moral," he says. "It's preposterous to me that someone would dictate morality to me. Films like The Woodsman are R-rated, and it is an adult film for adults. It's not trying to be moral.

"But I always wonder how people will react to it, how will people react to the subject matter? But I know from traveling with the film that it brings up dialogue."

Bacon remains confident about the film and his performance. He learned long ago that there are measurements of acting success beyond box-office receipts. More people might have watched him playing for laughs as a snobbish salon owner in the current Queen Latifah comedy, Beauty Shop. Still, it's films like The Woodsman that make an actor's career challenging and fulfilling.

"I want to make things as real as I can," he says. "In The Hollow Man I played a monster, but I wanted to show the person becoming a monster. For me it's about how people see things and how they feel. Whatever it is that makes it real, for me, that's what I am about."

Bacon plays matters quiet in The Woodsman, and response to the film has also been quiet. Perhaps that's how it was meant to be.