A meticulous horticulturist who is devoted to tending the grounds of a beautiful estate and pandering to his employer, the wealthy dowager.

Paul Schrader’s movies, both directed and written, are almost exclusively about lonely, troubled men, and ‘Master Gardener’ is his latest entry to explore this theme. It stars Joel Edgerton as Narvel Roth (really?!), a horticulturist who tends to the needs of both the beautiful gardens of a wealthy dowager (Sigourney Weaver) and the wealthy dowager herself. A darker past is hinted at, with it becoming clear that circumstances in Narvel’s life have led him down this path, with that past coming more into focus once he takes on the dowager’s troubled niece Maya (Quintessa Swindell) as an apprentice. He develops a bond with her and starts to look after her much like he looks after the garden, although I did feel the romantic aspects to this plot were particularly contrived in order to fuel the second half of the movie.

As well as focusing on damaged masculinity, Schrader’s films often explore themes of guilt and regret (often with religious elements) and ‘Master Gardener’ is no different. Edgerton, like Oscar Isaac in ‘The Card Counter’ and Ethan Hawke in ‘First Reformed’, is an internal person who keeps his cards close to his chest, and the focus of the film is to explore what happens when Narvel is forced to open up to someone. Joel Edgerton is excellent in the central role, as are Swindell and Weaver when they’re on screen, but I kept wanting more from this film and felt it’s deliberate slow (slow!) burn approach doesn’t do it any favours. There isn’t enough tension or drive in the script to really draw the audience in and while it has good character moments between Narvel and Maya, it too often meanders and never builds on potentially exciting plot developments.

We’ve seen films like ‘Master Gardener’ before from Paul Schrader, and he’s produced better works in the past centering on similar themes. I did feel there was a good premise here that touches on topics such as rehabilitation and whether a violent past can ever truly leave someone, but ultimately ‘Master Gardener’ is a little too slow and dare I say a shade too boring to grip me from start to finish.

Rating: 3/5

Directed By: Paul Schrader

Starring: Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, Quintessa Swindell, Eduardo Losan, Erika Ashley, Rick Cosnett, Victoria Hill, Amy Le and Esai Morales

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt15342244/