Portrait of the artist

John Hawkes rises above the movie.

There are plenty of artists who toil for years without receiving any real recognition, and crop artist Stan Herd is one of them. A Kansan, Herd creates “Earth Works,” enormous portraits composed of plants and landscaping. On the ground, his work makes for lovely scenery. From above, though, his perspective and vision is simply extraordinary.

Yet, for years, Herd didn’t get much acknowledgment at all. Then, in 1994, he was given a major opportunity—to create a piece in New York City on a plot of land that would eventually be turned into a building by Donald Trump.

That’s the story told in Chris Ordal’s new film, Earthwork, opening Friday, July 1, at Reading Cinemas Gaslamp. John Hawkes stars as Herd, and it’s apt casting. Hawkes is a talented, charming actor who’s toiled for years in

supporting roles in films like The Perfect Storm and American Gangster and on TV shows such as Deadwood and East Bound & Down. He’s one of those actors whose face you know but whose name you might not—or, at least, you didn’t until last year, when he got an Oscar nomination for Winter’s Bone (and although he didn’t win, he did receive the award from the San Diego Film Critics Society).

Hawkes is great in Earthwork, even if the movie is a bit mild and the art takes a back seat to the relationships in Herd’s life.

Herd has created his art for years without the world taking notice, but he’s had the support of his wife (Janis Kirk) and son (Everett Dexter), as well as professional photographer Peter B. Kaplan (Bruce MacVittie), who’s always gone out of his way to document Herd’s finished products. When a call goes out for artists to submit their proposals for a massive outdoor project on Trump’s land, Herd offers to pay all of the expenses himself, hoping that this will be the piece that gains him the recognition he so desperately craves on a personal level, and the security he needs on a financial one.

Once he’s on the site, he discovers that it’s filthy and often occupied by homeless people. Herd’s a sociable midwesterner, and as he gets to work, he befriends the people who call this place home. There’s El-Trac (Sam Greenlee), Mayor (Zach Grenier), Ryan (Chris Bachand) and Lone Wolf (James McDaniel), and they all begin to pitch in and help with the monumental task. Eventually, the film becomes about all of them working together on what’s essentially a doomed piece of art— when they’re done, the bulldozers will begin clearing the land, after all.

There are some very nice moments between Herd and the men who live on his artwork, none of which, I’m happy to say, take the form of the artist realizing that homeless people are people, too. No, he brings them on board because he needs the help, and as he gets to know them, we get a better sense of who they are as individuals.

At the same time, the movie never quite grabs us, and it does have its forced, trite sequences, like when Stan takes his assistants to a cocktail party being thrown in his honor.

Never problematic is Hawkes, who digs in to the role, never turning Herd into a cliché. He’s amiable and appealing, dedicated to his art and the people around him.

All told, this is a sweet, somewhat interesting film, deserving of its PG rating. It’s hampered by its limited budget, because we never get to see the work in progress, except at ground level. That’s really too bad, because during the credits, you’ll see a number of amazing examples of Herd’s work. Still, it’s great to see Hawkes in a rare leading role, and great to see both artists getting their due.

Write to anders@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.