A Man Named Pearl

A Man Named Pearl

Directed by Scott Galloway and Brent Pierson (G)

An African-American man wins over an all-white neighborhood with his green thumb.

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A Man Named Pearl is a surprisingly poignant “portrait of a man,” said John Anderson in The Washington Post. First-time filmmakers Scott Galloway and Brent Pierson “sculpt” a touching documentary about Pearl Fryar, a black man who overcame his small town’s preconceptions by becoming a “Picasso of the pruning shears.” In 1976, Fryar bought a house in the all-white town of Bishopville, S.C., ignoring the concerns of narrow-minded residents who were worried he “wouldn’t keep up the yard.” He proved them spectacularly wrong, said John Monaghan in the Detroit Free Press. Over the past three decades, the self-taught topiarist has turned his backyard into a “garden paradise.” Fryar nurtured unusual plants and took shrubs typically not suited for topiary and morphed them into works of art. This documentary is as “unassuming and charming” as Fryar himself, said Ken Hanke in the Asheville, N.C., Mountain Xpress. Like Fryar, the directors take a no-nonsense approach to confronting prejudice. As a result, they create a film as honest as it is inspirational.