Quiet on set?

Zen and the Art of Landscaping Review

I really enjoyed this film. I totally thought I knew where it was going, too, when Zen started sneaking glances as Jean slowly extended her leg out of the car door. The scene of her banging the groceries in her trunk made me very cautious of where it was going to go, however. This unease was emphasized by the slow head turn she performed when Zen asked her if she was ok. Then Jean invited Zen in for a drink and I felt we were back on track for the lonely housewife routine.

One thing that I did notice was that when Zen walked in, the shot of him was through the railing of a upper landing of some sort, with bars all across the scene. It almost made Zen look as if he had just entered a prison of sorts. Also, I really love the irony of Jean laughing when she talks about the first thing that anyone says when they walk in is “Oh, what a lovely home you have,” because that is the total opposite of what this is.

From there on out, the film just kept cropping up new twists that made these people all connected in weird ways. Everything has something they were hiding - Zen beating up Andy in high school, Andy being gay, Richard cheating on Jean with Andy’s gf, etc. It becomes hard to really sympathize with any of them, but in the end I felt good that Zen got away safely. Poor kid was just trying to do the yard. There was some sort of satisfaction, like his presence had gotten everything out in the open and united the family against the catalyst of it all - Zen.