Review of The Constant Gardener (2005) by Stuart K — 07 Feb 2013
Directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God (2002)), and adapted from John le Carré's 2001 novel, this is a mysterious thriller about cover-ups and political chicanery. It's got a good cast to it's name, Rachel Weisz would win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar along the way, and it's one of the better John le Carré adaptations and it has all the globe-hopping you would get from a Bond film.
Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) is a quiet, mild-mannered British Diplomat working in Kenya, and he lives a quiet life until he discovers his wife Tessa (Rachel Weisz) has been murdered, she works as a humanitarian in Kenya, and was murdered for finding out information about the bogus testing of a tuberculosis drug.
In flashbacks, we see how Justin and Tessa met, she was an outspoken and critical activist, he was a government minister, and they fell in love and she persuaded Justin to take her to Kenya. Justin goes to England and mainland Europe to discover the truth about the tuberculosis drug, and how the British Government knew about it's cover up.
It's a good thriller with some good performances, Fiennes gives one of his best performances as the mild-mannered, grieving husband who just wants the truth. It has a great supporting cast from Danny Huston, Bill Nighy, Gerard McSorley, Donald Sumpter and Pete Postlethwaite.
This review of The Constant Gardener (2005) was written by Stuart K on 07 Feb 2013.
The Constant Gardener has generally received very positive reviews.
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