El Maestro Jardinero

"Narvel" (Joel Edgerton) is the head gardener on the estate of the wealthy, slightly eccentric, "Norma" (Sigourney Weaver) with both being enormously proud of their horticultural expertise and creations. One afternoon, she entertains him to tea and explains that her great-neice "Maya" (Quintessa Swindell) will be joining his team as an apprentice. The women have never met, nor does "Norma" know much about her - but he agrees and she duly arrives. Initially, we think she's a typically recalcitrant teenager with ripped jeans and permanently glued to her earphones. It becomes quite clear, though, that she is interested and the two begin to bond. There are some extra-curricular elements to the plot that gradually draw the story away from the simplicity and precision of the gardening theme and immerse us in the hatred of white supremacy and the violence of drug dealing and the film becomes more predictable. The first twenty minutes or so have an intriguing intensity to them but as the story develops, the (romantic) melodrama creeps in and the story starts to lose it's originality. By the last half hour I found the whole thing had become really quite mediocre and Edgerton, who starts off as something of an enigma ends up rather banal. That said, his performance is quite effective, menacing even, at times and Swindell is competent enough - it's just all a bit seen it before. Worth a watch, but it could have delivered better.

As the movie opens we witness Joel Edgerton as Master Gardener Narvel Roth writing in his journal with narration. What we first see of him is a mystery, but at 22 minutes in he takes off his shirt and the tattoos paint an uneasy picture of who he might be. Or at least who he was at one time.

He is employed by Sigourney Weaver as the Dowager Norma Haverhill who owns the mansion and the grounds that are a masterful garden. He also has a small staff and he spends time each day teaching them some of the finer points of gardening.

Norma approaches him, she has a request. Her grandniece, a young lady of "mixed blood", will be coming on, the hope is that she can be trained as a gardener. She will get minimum wage at first and will be provided transportation. And, since Norma is up in age, maybe the young lady can ultimately take over and carry on the family tradition. She is played by Quintessa Swindell as Maya Core.

My wife and I recognized right away that it must have been filmed in Louisiana and in fact it was, St. Francisville and New Orleans, primarily. The New Orleans scenes not far from where my wife grew up, on the West Bank.

This is a really good movie, with solid and interesting character studies of the three main characters. Each actor gives a fine performance. What you were doesn't necessarily dictate what you will become.

At home, on DVD from our public library.

I had just watched 'You Hurt My Feelings' before this one, a very poor effort at trying to make some emotions for its story, but then I stumbled upon this movie accidentally. Wow. What a difference it makes. Not only had it top-class acting in every department, but also a story so well told, I was constantly wondering where it was going. Will it be bloody as hell (what I expected), or something completely different? Real emotions ran deep in this movie, never over-explained any of them at all. The direction is spot-on, obviously, as so the score and editing. It has been simply the best effort about human emotions since I saw 'Fathers and Daughters' back in 2015.

Greetings again from the darkness. The word of the day is "awkward." Every character, every situation, every moment, and every conversation in this film can be described with that word. An attempt will be made to not overuse that adjective here, but yours truly offers no guarantees. Paul Schrader has had a long and impressive career as both writer and director. His early successes include screenplays for TAXI DRIVER (1976), ROLLING THUNDER (1977), RAGING BULL (1980), and THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (1988), as well as directing AMERICAN GIGOLO (1980) and AFFLICTION (1997). The past few years have been a bit of a resurgence for Schrader with the excellent FIRST REFORMED (2018) and THE CARD COUNTER (2021).

In his latest, Schrader gives us Narvel Roth, an expert horticulturalist played by Joel Edgerton. Narvel is responsible for the massive gardens on the estate of wealthy dowager Norma Haverhill (Sigourney Weaver). Narvel's daily rituals are carried forth with his meticulous approach, including daily journaling in his sparse living quarters located on the grounds of the estate. As narrator, Narvel tells us, "a change will come in its due time", and though he's speaking of the garden, we understand the words also apply to him. Soon enough, we learn that this current lifestyle represents a significant change from his past, and it's clear another is brewing.

The relationship between Narvel and Ms. Haverhill is quite unorthodox, and yes, awkward (she has nicknamed him 'Sweet Pea'). She is filled with entitlement and thrives on her power over others, not hesitating to use Narvel for more than his gardening skills. In fact, his past likely provides quite an enticement for her. Ms. Haverhill soon charges Narvel with taking her estranged and off-track great-niece Maya (Quintessa Swindell, BLACK ADAM, 2022) under his wing and teaching her the profession of gardening. This creates the second and third of the three relationships at play in the film. Narvel and Maya hit it off, as her intelligence and work ethic win him over. However, things aren't as smooth between Maya and Ms. Haverhill. Their first chat, though long delayed, epitomizes the awkwardness prevalent throughout the film.

Adding complexity to the story is Maya's personal life which brings a couple of drug dealers to the forefront. It's this development that uncovers the past Narvel has worked so hard to cover up. After a meeting with his Witness Protection contact (Esai Morales), Narvel begins his process of 'saving' Maya ... a clear attempt at redemption from his past life, and this is where her being bi-racial is a significant plot point.

The first two acts offer an unconventional form of entertainment. Edgerton nails the Narvel role with his Steven Wright delivery, slicked back hair, SLING BLADE wardrobe, and fastidious procession through the day. Even his posture and stride change along with his character's shifting outlook. The three relationships between the tormented characters weave quite the web, and as secrets are exposed, the dynamics of these relationships change as well. Schrader includes a few cringy lines of dialogue (perhaps by design?), and the drug dealers seem purposefully cartoonish, rather than intimidating or menacing. There are call-backs to earlier Schrader works, as it seems many of his characters over the years have battled personal demons, yet this one does offer a glimmer of optimism, which could be considered a step forward ... even if it's a bit awkward.

Opens in theaters on May 19, 2023.

The concept of Master Gardener wasn't new at all, "a man with a troubled past tries to restart his life and so on". I still wanted to give it a try, since the cast and the director ensured some potential.

After the credits hit there was only one question left, what was it all about? There wasn't even that much dramatic stuff happening in the film, to be hoest, and since the characters are barely transofrmed by the situations they find themselves in - there was no noticeable arcs or transformations. In the end everything stayed almost exaclty the same, including the characters.

It felt like just a recollection of a couple of weeks from these peoples lives, including long, stretched scenes of driving around, eating, narrating diaries and so on. Almost like a basic pointless re-enacted documentary.

Scenes just dragged and dragged, slowing it down as much as possible. So when it felt like the movie is going to end, I wasn't sure what story is left to wrap up, since nothing really happened. The main character changed slightly in terms of coping with his past, but didn't really change that much.

Besides some basic people-flower metaphors, there was nothing of interest in this film, so in the end, indeed, this was a waste of my time.