Review: In Paul Schrader's disappointing 'Master Gardener,' a violent racist turns over a new leaf
"Master Gardener" completes what the writer-director Paul Schrader has described as a kind of trilogy, and what I've come to see as a fascinating game of topical bingo. "First Reformed" (2018) was about a Christian minister radicalized by the threat of climate change; "The Card Counter" (2021) forced a professional gambler to confront his past crimes at Abu Ghraib. These calculated ...
"Master Gardener" completes what the writer-director Paul Schrader has described as a kind of trilogy, and what I've come to see as a fascinating game of topical bingo.
"First Reformed" (2018) was about a Christian minister radicalized by the threat of climate change; "The Card Counter" (2021) forced a professional gambler to confront his past crimes at Abu Ghraib. These calculated juxtapositions — of a character's main occupation and his deeper, more troubling preoccupations — might sound whimsical or formulaic. But for Schrader, steeped in the conventions of B-thrillers and art films alike, formula can be a jumping-off point rather than
