The Woodsman

One last question: did you have moral concerns about doing the film, as a father?

"A woman told me that she didn't want to see this movie, 'as a mother, it's the last place on earth I want to go', she said. All I can say, this is not a voyeuristic or sensationalist film. We're not trying to stir up controversy. It's about a sick guy who's trying to get well, and it's just one man's story. I think this is a deep problem in our society, and I don't know that the movie offers any answers. But I do know that it can't be swept under the rug. You can't pretend it doesn't exist. Whether it's the Catholic Church moving priests to different parishes or whatever, that cannot happen any more."

and

Happiness

There are only a handful of films that have a distinct polarizing affect on the audience--A Clockwork Orange, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, and I would even lump in American Beauty--these are movies you either get, or you don't. And if you don't get it, you will hate it. Open minded viewers need only apply, and that's certainly the case with "Happiness." I remember leaving the theater absolutely shocked, and not just because of the events on screen. I was shocked that I found the movie so intelligent and oddly entertaining. The actors surely must have felt that, after reading the screenplay. And there are some big actors in this--veterans like Ben Gazzara, Louise Lasser, Elizabeth Ashley, mixing with new talent like Philip Seymour Hoffman, Camryn Manheim, Dylan Baker, Lara Flynn Boyle, etc.