Gardening, Gunfire, and Gags

Read Time:5 Minute, 7 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
The Gardener (Le jardinier)
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Genre: Action, Comedy
Year Released: 2024, 2025
Runtime: 1h 50m
Director(s): David Charhon
Writer(s): David Charhon, Vincent De Brus, Sebastien Fechner
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michaël Youn, Nawell Madani, Kaaris, Matthias Quiviger, Jérôme Le Banner, Carla Poquin
Where to Watch: in select Theaters and on VOD June 6, 2025

RAVING REVIEW: When an action-comedy leans too far in both directions, it risks collapsing under its ambitions. That’s the case here, where the premise has a lot going for it—government secrets, hired killers, and a mysterious protector—but the execution rarely sticks the landing. The film tries to juggle satire, suspense, and slapstick, but never fully commits to them. Instead, what could have been a punchy, stylized thriller becomes a muddled blend of concepts and erratic delivery.

A government official, Serge (Michaël Youn), discovers that his name has been placed on a covert list targeting political threats for elimination. The list isn’t theoretical—it’s an execution order disguised as national security protocol. This discovery sends him and his family into a tailspin as they scramble to survive. The twist? Their only shot at making it out alive lies with their quiet gardener, Léo (Jean-Claude Van Damme), who is far more lethal than his rake-and-hoe image suggests.

Van Damme steps into the role of Léo with confidence and control. He plays it cool, never overextending, and the character benefits from his understated delivery. The physicality is there—Van Damme still knows how to move—but the script doesn’t take advantage of the character’s potential. There’s a dark past behind Léo’s calm demeanor, but the film never digs deep enough to make it meaningful. Instead, it relies on our preexisting knowledge of Van Damme’s screen persona to fill in the blanks. That might work for fans, but it shortchanges the character’s narrative impact.

Balancing that force is Youn, playing Serge with frantic energy. His comedic instincts are obvious, and the film tries to build him up as the everyman thrown into chaos. The problem is, his performance often feels like it's from a completely different movie. While he does land a few genuinely funny moments, especially in interactions with the over-the-top villains, much of his humor comes off as grating or misplaced. His character oscillates between being a stressed-out bureaucrat and a bumbling sidekick, with no clear arc tying it all together.

The film occasionally finds its rhythm during action sequences. Van Damme gets his moments to shine in brief but effective bursts of combat. The fights are tightly choreographed and make inventive use of the setting, including some amusingly creative weapon choices that stay true to the gardening motif. Yet, even the best of these moments feel fleeting, surrounded by tonal shifts that make it hard to invest in the stakes.

One of the clearest problems lies in how the tone veers without warning. What begins as a political thriller with comedic undertones quickly turns into cartoonish set pieces. There’s an extended sequence involving a military uniform and an upbeat song that might’ve worked in a sketch show, but lands awkwardly in the middle of what should be a tense survival scenario. The attempt to merge parody and action isn’t inherently flawed—it just requires precision, and here it feels like a rough first draft.

The supporting characters don’t leave much of a mark. Mia and Alice, the family members caught in the crossfire, mostly exist to add a layer of emotional urgency that the film doesn’t fully explore. Their relationship with Serge is hinted at but never developed, leaving their roles feeling underwritten. Operating under literary code names, the antagonists enter with pizzaz but are quickly reduced to clichés. There’s an attempt to give them some edge, but they end up more like action-movie filler than memorable threats.

The real issue is that the film doesn't know where to land. It tries to spoof political corruption, deliver intense action, and toss in family bonding, but it doesn’t give any of those threads enough attention to matter. It’s a project with ambition and perhaps even a strong concept at its core, but what reaches the screen is uneven, unfocused, and unsure of what kind of movie it wants to be.

Ultimately, what begins with a promise ends with frustration. There are flickers of something that could’ve worked—moments of style, bursts of action, and a fun premise—but they’re buried under confusion and weak character development. The ingredients were there, but the follow-through just didn’t come together.

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[photo courtesy of BLUE FOX ENTERTAINMENT, ROSE PRODUCTIONS]

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