Since when has an odd title put people off from going to see a movie though? Examples? Dude, Where’s My Car, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Everything is Illuminated, The Door in the Floor, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, The Vidiot from UHF (OK, maybe just that once). The Constant Gardener
is a solid keep-em-guessing thriller that might have been even better
had John le Carre‘s book (released in 2001) got the film
transformation some ten years ago – say, before
Ludlum’s Bourne series hit multiplexes, because a
small part of it is a little ‘been there – done
that’.On the other hand, there’s no disputing that a high
amount of adeptness and detail has gone into making Gardener
as good as movie as it could’ve possibly had been. Best of all,
they’ve gone for the best thespian this side of Thames, Ralph
Fiennes, to play the lead. In a remote area of Northern Kenya,
the region's most dedicated activist, the brilliant and fervent Tessa
Quayle (Rachel Weisz), has been found brutally murdered. Apparently a
local African doctor had been travelling with her, and as he seems to
have fled the scene, it looks like he could be responsible. Tessa’s
husband, low-level British diplomat Justin Quayle (Fieness) isn’t
as convinced, and heads into his late wife’s tumultuous stomping
ground to find answers. What he discovers is a large-scale cover-up,
and a secret that many high-flyers in Kenya and aboard are keeping
close to their chests. Though it’s quite a slow-burning thriller and might take some time to fully digest, Constant Gardener
is nothing but captivating viewing. It’s an intelligent movie,
and that’s what will ultimately separate it from the herd. In the
lead roles, Fieness and Weisz are absolutely amazing – and by
golly if you don’t feel a connection to them atleast once in the
film’s two hour and ten minute duration. Even if you don’t love the film, you’ll still most definitely like it a hell of a lot. EXTRAS
Extras on the DVD include Deleted and extended scenes (I tell ya,
cut scenes are such a waste of time), and several interesting
featurettes – one of embracing African culture and filming the movie in
Kenya, another on the director’s process, and another, a fairly
standard making of.
Conclusion:
Movie 75% Extras: 60%
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