Review of A Man Named Pearl

So often films about eccentrics have a darker agenda, pointing up human oddities for the amusement of the masses; this film is direct and honest and means to showcase an individual who devotes his life and time to a private garden he enthusiastically to the public. In a tiny South Carolina town on the decline from an agricultural past, Pearl buys a home with some acreage and makes the decision not only have a neat and tidy yard, but, as the trees and bushes he plants grows, to sculpture them. He works in the yard every day, quietly but with purpose, and after several years, there are topiary abstracts wherever one looks, and if there is a visitor, the self-effacing man is pleased to chat with them, spending extra time with young people brought by elders who know Pearl is a dedicated, if self-effacing role model. Without being corny or hammering the viewer over the head, the film showcases a good man who freely shares a beneficial obsession.