Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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118 of 142 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good story which deals with some real issues in the world today, September 5, 2005
Based on a novel by John Le Carre, this brand new film starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz just opened in theaters.
Fiennes is cast as a rather conventional British diplomat who falls in love with the fiery Rachel Weisz. In the first few minutes of the film they meet, mate, marry and go off to Africa where Fiennes is stationed.
He'd rather tend his garden and keep a blind eye to the truths around him. She adopts the humanitarian causes of the people and sometimes embarrasses Fiennes by telling off the stuffed shirt diplomats in his circle. He adores her though and their relationship is hot even though it seems as she and an African doctor are having an affair.
Everything is shattered when the African doctor and Rachel Weisz are brutally murdered. That's when mild-mannered Fiennes gets involved in the investigation. What he discovers is corruption at the highest level, involving big pharmaceutical companies who are using the Africans as guinea pigs to test new drugs. Fiennes' investigation leads to more and more discoveries. Eventually, his own life is in danger.
The acting is excellent and so is the cinematography. It really seemed to be the real Africa although the country remained unnamed. I do question the title because there was little about gardening in the film with the exception that it seemed that Fiennes would rather tend his garden than get involved in the horrible politics around him. Then, of course, he couldn't stop himself.
I enjoyed the film and especially like the fact that it addressed some real issues in the world today. It almost didn't matter that the details of the plot were a little confusing at times. I wish it grabbed my emotions more though. I know it was supposed to as it deals with the dire results of human greed and corruption.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A world without her..., November 15, 2005
"The constant gardener" is an extremely good movie that could have been exceptional but somehow doesn't reach that point. All the same, I think it is the kind of film you will appreciate, specially if you enjoy a good thriller, great actors, and the opportunity to watch the beautiful African scenery.
The plot is based on a novel by John Le Carre, who said that "The constant gardener" is an excellent adaptation of his book of the same name, even though it is quite different from it. In my opinion, the director, Fernando Meirelles, should be recognized for doing an excellent job in what ended up being an outstanding (and thouroughly non-linear) film. Even though I didn't like this movie as much as I loved Meirelles' previous film, "City of God", it easy to see that he retains his gift for surprising the spectator, and treating him with scenes of astonishing beauty.
The plot is, in general, the same of the book. Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), the main character, is an extremely polite English diplomat working in the British Embassy in Kenya. He who has only two passions in his life: gardening and his wife Tessa (Rachel Weisz). Tessa isn't overly conventional, and can be downright rude when she is defending one of her many causes, while Justin is taking care of his garden. Despite their differences, they complement each other. Justin, oblivious to the reality that surrounds him in Kenya, grounds himself in Tessa, and can't imagine his life without her.
Unfortunately, when some hired guns kill Tessa, Justin will have to learn if he will be able to live in a world without Tessa. His more immediate concern, however, is why was she killed. Justin's life is thrown into turmoil, and danger abounds, as he learns that Tessa was investigating the shady dealings of an important pharmaceutical company working in Kenya. But what did she discovered? Justin won't stop until he learns just that, finishing what his wife started.
On the whole, I think I can recommend this movie as high-quality entertainment, fast-paced enough to engage even those who don't like "slow" films. Heartily recommended!
Belen Alcat
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too Many Weeds Growing Here, May 14, 2006
Here's another highly praised film that left me, if not cold, at least not much more than tepid. Several flaws struck me.
First, I found the love story unconvincing, and once again, not about love at all. Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz get together way too fast. Or it seems fast. The general chronologically fractured structure of this movie often leaves the viewer with no sense of how much time has elapsed. So it appears that one moment, Weisz is in Fiennes' classroom, flirting, asking to go along with him to Africa. And the next moment, there they are together, in the thick of Africa's medical dilemmas.
Or actually, the two are not really there together at all. Contrary to the great love story that many people claim to find in this film, I found only separate tables. Fiennes and Weisz seem to be pursuing different paths from the start. They don't confide in each other about certain dangers, presumably to "protect" each other. But their lack of communication more often seems to derive from actual hostility, which flares palpably on more than one occasion. So where is the great love story?
Then another flaw is that the movie once again conjures the corporate executive as nearly invincible boogieman. There is no nuance in the evil of these men. And once again, they are omniscient and omnipresent, capable of commanding the gruesome murder of anyone hundreds of miles away, who so much as whispers a thought that would reduce their profit margins.
Finally, gratuitous red herrings are cast into the mix. For example, there is the hospital scene where Weisz is shown holding a baby. That's misleading for no good reason.
This movie does give a strikingly different view of the African landscape though. It's not the usual landscape we see on nature specials, with a herd of giraffes loping in front of a beautiful sunset. And it's not the jungle that some Tarzan enthusiasts still equate with Africa. The area where this movie was shot is a vast, parched moonscape. Being projected onto this ground for just the hours of the movie gives the viewer a sense of searing dearth. Our teenagers, whose biggest problem is often choosing between a Gucci or a Pucci handbag, seem as if they are growing up not thousands, but millions of miles from the present African generation.
So the film does wake the viewer up to some harsh realities. But on the whole, the constant gardener has too many weeds growing in his plot.
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