Spring Break
"The Constant Gardener" a refresher from a bland summer
Seth Miller/staff reporter
Issue date: 9/9/05 Section: The Verge
After a summer filled with an assortment of remakes, sequels, and superhero movies designed for pure escapism at the cost of quality, Academy Award-winning Director Fernando Meirelles released a movie of Oscar quality, "The Constant Gardener."
The movie is based on the book of the same name by author John LeCarre, and stars Ralph Fiennes as British diplomat Justin Quayle and Rachel Weisz as his wife Tessa.
Tessa was an active human rights defender with almost nothing in common with Justin, a mild-mannered diplomat who handles his problems by taking care of his garden.
The plot begins when Justin discovers that Tessa has been found dead in Kenya.
After Tessa's death, Justin finally grows a backbone and learns more about her than he knew when she was alive. When Justin's colleagues tell him Tessa was raped and murdered by her friend, Dr. Arnold Bluhm (Hubert Kounde), and that they will take care of it, Justin decides to take matters into his own hands. He takes up Tessa's cause by investigating a pharmaceutical corporation and a British politician (Bill Nighy) who may have been responsible for her death.
Although entertaining, this is not an uplifting film at all, dealing with AIDS, corruption of government officials and murder. Don't expect to see the best of humanity. However, "The Constant Gardener" is really good movie, but a long one, clocking in at 2 hours and 9 minutes.
At times it is evident that the director expects the audience to follow along with the dialogue carefully, because otherwise it's easy to get lost.
Fiennes is fantastic in the role of Justin. He seamlessly transforms from a spineless wimp to an investigative force determined to destroy the people who killed his wife.
Weisz is just as good, if not better at times, than Fiennes in her role. She embodies every quality of an activist perfectly and it seems completely natural to her.
Meirelles, whose past work has included "City of God," does a good job of directing this film, although the flashback storytelling at the beginning does seem a little cliché. The way he shoots the film, handles his stars, and completely immerses the viewer in this world, however, make up for the film's drawbacks.
Meirelles' best move is his shooting of Africa. Since most news out of Africa is either about AIDS or the situation in Sudan, it's refreshing to see a director tackle not only the situation in Africa but can also step back and show how beautiful the countryside is.
"The Constant Gardener" is a great way to kick off this fall season of movies. Meirelles, Fiennes and Weisz deserve Oscar nominations for their work in this thriller.
The movie is based on the book of the same name by author John LeCarre, and stars Ralph Fiennes as British diplomat Justin Quayle and Rachel Weisz as his wife Tessa.
Tessa was an active human rights defender with almost nothing in common with Justin, a mild-mannered diplomat who handles his problems by taking care of his garden.
The plot begins when Justin discovers that Tessa has been found dead in Kenya.
After Tessa's death, Justin finally grows a backbone and learns more about her than he knew when she was alive. When Justin's colleagues tell him Tessa was raped and murdered by her friend, Dr. Arnold Bluhm (Hubert Kounde), and that they will take care of it, Justin decides to take matters into his own hands. He takes up Tessa's cause by investigating a pharmaceutical corporation and a British politician (Bill Nighy) who may have been responsible for her death.
Although entertaining, this is not an uplifting film at all, dealing with AIDS, corruption of government officials and murder. Don't expect to see the best of humanity. However, "The Constant Gardener" is really good movie, but a long one, clocking in at 2 hours and 9 minutes.
At times it is evident that the director expects the audience to follow along with the dialogue carefully, because otherwise it's easy to get lost.
Fiennes is fantastic in the role of Justin. He seamlessly transforms from a spineless wimp to an investigative force determined to destroy the people who killed his wife.
Weisz is just as good, if not better at times, than Fiennes in her role. She embodies every quality of an activist perfectly and it seems completely natural to her.
Meirelles, whose past work has included "City of God," does a good job of directing this film, although the flashback storytelling at the beginning does seem a little cliché. The way he shoots the film, handles his stars, and completely immerses the viewer in this world, however, make up for the film's drawbacks.
Meirelles' best move is his shooting of Africa. Since most news out of Africa is either about AIDS or the situation in Sudan, it's refreshing to see a director tackle not only the situation in Africa but can also step back and show how beautiful the countryside is.
"The Constant Gardener" is a great way to kick off this fall season of movies. Meirelles, Fiennes and Weisz deserve Oscar nominations for their work in this thriller.
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