Master Gardener

 

Paul Schrader is a formidable cinematic moralist whose movies almost always depict failed and failing men wrestling with demons.

His latest, Master Gardener, tells the story of a surprisingly erudite horticulturist named Narvel Roth, played by Joel Edgerton, who works for Norma Haverhill, a pleated and plain-spoken doyenne of the property classes (Sigourney Weaver) in an unnamed Southern town with streets lined with palmettos and festooned with moss.

Norma asks Narvel to take over the tutelage of her grand-niece, Maya (a radiant Quintessa Swindell), her deceased sister's granddaughter, who recently experienced the death of her mother.

Narvel is to apprentice the young woman and prepare her to maybe one day take over the maintenance of the estate.

Narvel, a crisp and immaculately barbered presence whose torso bears witness to his dark past, takes the assignment and quickly grows fond of the young woman, who is struggling with drug addiction. Her habit compromises not only her future but, possibly, the lives and safety of everyone around her.

Edgerton, Weaver and Swindell, especially, are all fine and their interactions are clean and on the money. They are hitting all of the marks dutifully in this story of secrets and lies, but it is not one of the celebrated screenwriter's best efforts. The script is layered but the dialogue often feels stagy and artificial.