El Maestro Jardinero

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.

"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.

Thank god for intelligent film making. This story of second chances and redemption is not without its problems but overall is time well spent if you actually want to watch a story unfold. The basic plot of bad man atoning for a past life through enabling others is a well worn furrow which usually ends in an orgy of violence or a tragic sacrifice but not so here. In Edgertons measured and nuanced performance we have a far better and more realistic journey as he demonstrates once again how underrated he is as an actor. Sigourney Weaver demonstrates just how damm good she is and relative newcomer Swindell holds her own. If I were to critise it would be the continuity and editing, at times I was left thinking that a scene was missing and some of the linkage plain didn't work, thankfully the overall arc of the story and the performances kept me interested enough to let the flaws slide. Give it a watch.

I have to say, I haven't seen any of the other two movies part of this thematic trilogy, but as far as I know they're independent stories.

To start with, the story is nothing original. It's been done many times before, and better.

The story of a guy with a dark past and set of skills, retired from that life, trying to live a quiet life in a small job, but trouble comes up and the guy goes back to old habits.

I know, that's not all there is here, but the rest, honestly, didn't blow my mind neither. I just didn't connect with the characters or what they do. And it's actually weird, because I do like gardening and nature in general, but it just didn't click for me.

Also, I felt the visual aspect wasn't great. I get the pale colour palette, but still, the shots didn't catch my eye or made an impression, except for the monotony and bland character of it. I know many won't be so exigent with this aspect, but I consider it an important aspect and with so many great cinematographers in the industry, if a movie doesn't have this aspect covered, I feel frustrated and disappointed. After all, movies are a visual form of entertainment, which include other many aspects, but it's a visual thing first!

Besides all that technical criticism, I found the ending quite weird, awkward, a bit cheesy and even slightly nonsensical at some degree, considering the character Norma (S. Weaver).

On the performances side, everyone give solid acts, that's the strongest point of the movie for sure.

Quite a disappointment, I was expecting this to be a solid movie, but it ended up being a mediocre piece, for me.

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.