Pearl Fryar is the subject of this documentary. In many ways, Pearl is a very ordinary man...except for his hobby. Long ago, Pearl started working with his yard and it went from a cow pasture to a magical place filled with amazingly crafted topiaries. Now I am not talking about topiaries like you see at Disney World, but pieces that look almost like something you'd see in a modern art gallery. How this HUGE project has affected Pearl's life as well as the community is the subject of this film. Now I know this sounds pretty boring--after all, he's just a guy who is obsessed with making a world-class collection of exquisitely carved bushes and trees. But there is much more to it than that--mostly because you really feel a nice connection with the man. Pearl seems like a genuinely admirable and simple man. Overall, the film is very sweet and oddly interesting--so much so that I just found I couldn't stop watching. Weird and wonderful.
Review of A Man Named Pearl
