John Hawkes stars as real-life crop artist Stan Herd in muddy EARTHWORK
EARTHWORK (Chris Ordal, 2010)
Angelika Film Center
18 West Houston St. at Mercer St.
Opens Friday, April 29
212-995-2570
www.earthworkmovie.com
www.angelikafilmcenter.com
Winner of numerous awards at film festivals all over the country, Earthwork is an uninspiring, uninvolving look at the true story behind one man’s obsession with his unique brand of art. Based in Kansas, crop artist Stan Herd (John Hawkes) — who designs portraits, still-lifes, and corporate logos on the ground using grass, trees, bushes, soil, flowers, rock, and other natural elements, with the final work best seen from high above in airplanes and helicopters — was determined to make a name for himself in the New York art world. In 1994, he submitted a proposal for a public art project on an acre of wasteland on the West Side of Manhattan, part of the old Penn Central rail yards bought by Donald Trump. Herd got the job when he offered to do it for free, financing it himself by forging his wife’s (Laura Kirk) signature on a loan. He ends up working with a motley crew of homeless men who live in the nearby tunnels, consisting of young graffiti artist Ryan (Chris Bachand), elderly poet El-Trac (novelist Sam Greenlee), the mute Cage (Brendon Glad), the mentally unstable Lone Wolf (James McDaniel), and the dapper Mayor (Zach Grenier). As the obstacles continue to mount, Herd perseveres, but writer-producer-director Chris Ordal is unable to get any emotional depth out of the script or the actors. Flat and frustrating, Earthwork comes off more like a reality TV show reenactment than a full-fledged feature-length film. If it never feels like it’s set in New York, that’s because it was mostly shot in Kansas, killing off any chance of building the inherent dramatic tension that exists between the big city and the country and removing the irony of Herd’s creating a beautiful, colorful work of natural art amid a land of towering skyscrapers. Earthwork is like a chapter of a book way off in the corner by itself, desperately in need of the rest of the story. Ordal and Herd will be at the Angelika to talk about the film at several screenings on Friday and Saturday.