Earthwork Image
Metascore

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critics What's this?

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  • Summary: In 1994, real-life crop artist Stan Herd traveled from Kansas to Manhattan's Upper West Side to create a massive environmental artwork on land owned by Donald Trump. The multi-acre artwork was made from soil, rock, plants and vegetation near an underground railway tunnel. Stan recruited a number of homeless individuals living in the tunnel to become his crew. Over the months it took to complete the earthwork, Stan dealt with a myriad of difficulties in bringing his unique, rural art form to an urban canvas and the many costs his art exacted upon his life. In the process, he unexpectedly encountered the true meaning of his art and it's ultimate, lasting rewards. (Shadow Distribution) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 8
  2. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    May 19, 2011
    90
    A flawless gem, a gentle yet ultimately ironic meditation on the power of art.
  2. Reviewed by: Mark Holcomb
    Apr 26, 2011
    70
    Like Herd, the movie-which resists peeking above the horizon until its final, poignant skyline shot-strives for a connection with land and labor typically missing from depictions of urban life, and provides a timely model for finding value in lean circumstances and humble company.
  3. Reviewed by: David Fear
    Apr 26, 2011
    60
    The writer-director does have a wonderful eye-a shot of a tractor wheel sticking out of the Hudson River is museumworthy-but his grasp of the melodramatic could use a little more grounding.
  4. Reviewed by: Pam Grady
    Apr 29, 2011
    60
    Writer/director Chris Ordal's debut feature is not a documentary nor is it precisely a biopic. Instead the drama captures the artist at a pivotal moment in time.

See all 8 Critic Reviews