The Constant Gardener

Advantages: Excellent plot, superb acting, stunning location
Disadvantages: Emotionally draining

..."In Africa there are no murders, only regrettable deaths." The Constant Gardener is an adaptation of a John Le Carre novel, a thrilling adventure of immense social relevance which highlights commercial exploitation and political corruption in Africa, whilst simultaneously celebrating the astounding beauty of the landscape, culture and people. The political focus of this movie is cleverly interwoven with the struggle of a British diplomat to discover the truth behind his wife's murder, to learn who she really was, and to realise a greater love and trust in her than he ever had when she was alive. The Main Cast Ralph Fiennes ...Justin Quayle Rachel Weisz ...Tessa Quayle Hubert Koundé ...Arnold Bluhm Danny Huston ...Sandy Woodrow Bill Nighy ...Sir Bernard Pellegrin Donald Sumpter ...Tim Donohue Archie Panjabi ...Ghita...

VC81 03.11.2005 · Read review
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Review of The Constant Gardener

The Constant Gardener - Love. At any cost.

Advantages: Gripping political thriller, Great photography
Disadvantages: 1st half hour a bit drawn out

...In general, I tend not to be a big fan of films that receive lots of Oscar nominations. As such, I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy The Constant Gardener when I was bought it as a present. Based on the best-selling book by John Le Carré and directed by Fernando Meirelles [City of God], this film stars Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz (who won the Oscar for best supporting actress for this film). One of the many reasons that I have not generally been a fan of nominated films, and those that are critically acclaimed is that often the story is lost amongst the cinematography. Having heard rave reviews about the cinematography in this film I was worried that this would be the same case for this film but happily, the storyline to this film was very gripping alongside some of the best photography that I've ever seen. Africa truly is one...

StereoMike1983 27.05.2006 · Read review
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Review of The Constant Gardener

Constantly Thought Provoking

Advantages: A awe inspiring production
Disadvantages: A couple of missed opportunities

...When I saw trailers for The Constant Gardener in honesty I thought, oh God! Not in a good way, I kind of surmised from the trailer that the movie was an eco friendly piece about Africa. At no point during the trailer (the television trailer at least) did it give the impression it was a highly moving and disturbing thriller; that in my honest opinion beats any other British thriller for over ten years. As the movie begins you are treated to beautiful views of the African countryside and coast. This then closes in to a river bank, the colours at this point are so vivid, it all seems a little unnatural (I'm advised however by an documentary that that was the actual colour, no enhancements have been made). The next image is a very brief one second shot of a jeep falling on its side. You are made very aware that something is very wrong...

sghawken 24.06.2006 · Read review
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Review of The Constant Gardener (DVD)

A Constant Success!

Advantages: Brilliant Script and Acting.
Disadvantages: None.

...When the constant gardener came out at the cinema I immediately thought it looked like my sort of film as I heard it was an extremely clever thriller and everybody gave it rave reviews. Fast forward to last night when I finally sat down with it on DVD and thought I would give it a go and I thought it was absolutely excellent. ----- So What is the Film About? (Reading from the back of the box) A diplomat on the hunt for his wife's murderer uncovers a treacherous conspiracy that will destroy millions of innocent people - unless he can reveal its sinister roots. From the best-selling spy novel by John Le Carre comes this edge-of-your-seat story of murder, deception and revenge that critics are calling 'outstanding?dramatic?hair-raising' - The Times. Verdict on the story: The actual story of this film is absolutely...

katygriff 30.03.2006 · Read review
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Review of The Constant Gardener

Gardening Constantly

Advantages: beautiful landscapes, thrilling stry, good acting what more could you want
Disadvantages: too long possibly?

...I had recently read the novel by John Le Carre and when I heard that the film was coming out I knew just had to go and see it. What was more was it was being directed by Fernando Meirelles, one of my favourite directors who did City of God among other things. The Constant Gardener tells the story of a high-paced thriller whilst still managing to portray the exquisite scenery of Africa. It creates a stunning backdrop to story primarily about the love of a diplomat pulling one man through thick and thin in search of answers to his wife’s death. In doing so it also highlights the injustices of the global pharmaceutical industry and the lengths these companies will go to reach their aspirations. Cast List Ralph Fiennes ...Justin Quayle Rachel Weisz ...Tessa Quayle Hubert Koundé ...Arnold Bluhm Danny Huston ...Sandy...

wiseboi1 25.02.2006 (28.02.2006) · Read review
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Review of The Constant Gardener

The Inconstant Gardener

Advantages: Strong performances, beautiful cinematography
Disadvantages: Rather long and too eager to tie up all the loose ends

...the viewer. Where the film falls down is in its insistence on retaining as much of the source material as possible. This results in an unwieldy running time and an overwhelming impression that the story would have been better served with a TV mini-series than a film. So the pacing often feels slow and the breathless excitement is allowed to drain away. Jeffrey Caine's thorough screenplay must shoulder much of the blame for this plodding pot-boiler. Even if I wasn't previously aware that "The Constant Gardener" was based on a John Le Carré novel, the format would have tipped me off. The many and varied narrative strands are brought together very quickly during the last twenty minutes, when they are all neatly tied up. Every single incident within the convoluted plot is resolved; the bad people are all punished and the good people all die...

afy9mab 19.03.2006 · Read review
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Review of The Constant Gardener

He's a gardener, she's a firebrand. Odd couple?

Advantages: Brilliant scenery, acting
Disadvantages: too long

...Last night, my mate and I decide to go and see this film. We both read about it and thought it was right up our street. The film "The Constant Gardener" is based on a book by John Le Carre and is directed by the award nominated director for "City of God" Fernando Meirelles. The story is about a man called Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) who's a diplomat for the British High Command and who's more devoted to his garden that he is his own mission in Nairobi. He's married to Tessa (Rachel Weisz) who's the exact opposite to him. A radicalist who's found out that the people in Nairobi are nothing but guinea pigs for a new TB drug. The story actually begins where she has been brutally murdered and her husband goes on his own mission to get to the bottom of it all. Now Tessa is dead, he starts to understand her more than he ever did...

galaxynicole 15.11.2005 · Read review
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Review of The Constant Gardener

A cocktail of love, politics and murder!

Advantages: Excellent film
Disadvantages: none

...*PLease note this is a film only review* Friday night is often DVD night in our house and this time it was my husband's turn to choose. Our daughters had bought him The Constant Gardener for Father's Day (at a bargain price of £2 from WH Smith) but we had not yet got round to watching the film so that was his choice. I did not really know anything about the film, apart from the fact that it is based on a book by John Le Carre (who has a certain pedigree) so I had no idea what to expect. I was not disappointed at all and would even go as far as to say that I loved the film and was completely engrossed for all of its two hours and three minutes running time! The film was made in 2005 and stars Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz, It tells the story of Justin Quale, a High-Commissioner delegee in Africa, and his wife Tessa. Tessa is...

kingfisher111 04.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Constant Gardener

Diplomatic blues

Advantages: Contemporary topic, fabulous cinematography
Disadvantages: Lack of attraction between the two main characters

...with a colleague, Arnold, she spends hours wandering the streets in the midday heat; then spends hours at night locked in her study working. She refuses to share what she is doing with Justin. After her death, Justin discovers that she has been working to try to prove the harm that foreign pharmaceutical companies are doing in Africa by providing drugs at high prices for those suffering from Aids and tuberculosis. Was her death a coincidence? Or was her work causing problems for certain people, which led to her death? Justin's investigations uncover facts that even he wasn't expecting to find. I am a great fan of Ralph Fiennes, who plays Justin. In my experience, he rarely puts a foot wrong. I thought he did well in this film. Justin is a rather dry diplomat who enjoys gardening and spends most of his life being far removed from reality. Whereas this...

sunmeilan 15.01.2007 · Read review
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Review of The Constant Gardener

Apathy in and for Africa

Advantages: Wonderful performances; visually beautiful; powerful and harrowing; intriguing characters
Disadvantages: Weak, documentary-style core issue; difficult to relate to at times politically

...Some films work on a basis of being documentaries or moral lessons, rather than a thrilling picture of entertainment. This applies to, for example, Schindler's List, Apocalypse Now, Hotel Rwanda and notable in this case, the Constant Gardener. Each of these films are wonderfully made, acted and filmed, but ultimately are not really enjoyable experiences because the underlying message is so incredibly heavy. Based on the novel by John Le Carre, British diplomat, Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) launches into an investigation into the death of his bold, activist wife, Tessa (Rachel Weisz) whose brutal murder by Kenyan bandits seems to be all too convenient. Quayle, through his investigation that spans through London, Berlin and remote places in Africa (all filmed on location), starts to uncover the dark and grim truth not only behind...

harlequin21 09.04.2006 · Read review
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