Gardener of Eden (2007)

Gardener of Eden: Directed by Kevin Connolly. With Lukas Haas, Erika Christensen, Giovanni Ribisi, David Patrick Kelly. Young man on the wrong track suddenly finds purpose and love when he captures a serial rapist.

“Itu0026#39;s all John Steinbecku0026#39;s fault. Heu0026#39;s to blame. Well, Steinbeck and the educational system that validates his works. News flash. Mice and Men is crap. Thereu0026#39;s nothing poetic about stupid people doing stupid things. Not 65 years ago, not ever. If youu0026#39;re writing a movie and the only substantiation you can find for a particular character making a particular choice is that heu0026#39;s a nitwit, itu0026#39;s time to choose another profession. Dumb characters making idiotic choices do not good cinema make.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOne would think that with 5 years of reading some of the best scripts television has to offer, Kevin Connolly would be able to tell the difference between a good and a bad script.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWith this film, itu0026#39;s quite obvious that he cannot. Take Clerks, subtract the humorous dialog, and to that add Unbreakable, but without M. Night Shyamalanu0026#39;s brilliant cinematography and engrossing story. To all this, add a suffocating dose of dreariness and… voilà, youu0026#39;ve got Gardener of Eden.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOn the bright side, the acting was very strong by everyone involved. They did the best that they could with what they had to work with. And although it lacked the artistry of Unbreakable, it wasnu0026#39;t aesthetically challenged. Connolly executed a vision. You could definitely see that both cast and crew were very earnest in their attempt. I give it an A+ for effort.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eUnfortunately, though, a good script is the foundation from which everything is built. Without it, the whole structure crumbles.”