A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

The Evaluation System Reviews by Title Reviews by Date

Reviews from Video Reviews of the Classics Personal Background

Title: The Constant Gardener

Date Viewed: 9/17/05

Details:

Ralph Fiennes

Rachel Weisz

Hubert Kounde

Danny Huston

Bill Nighy

Director: Fernando Meirelles

Score: +

The Review: Adapted from the novel by John Le Carre, Constant Gardener has competent acting (especially Fiennes), plotting by a master, and a compelling topic – topical, fresh, and raw edged (if a bit of a downer). And besides, I just like Bill Nighy, even when he plays characters with marginal ethics.

Quiet and a bit slow to start, this is a chronologically fractured biography of Justin Quayle (Fiennes), a not atypical Le Carre civil servant who, with his wife (Weisz), becomes embroiled in international politics, murder and mayhem. The bogeyman cuts close to home for me, as it concerns pharmaceutical testing in darkest (or at least poorest) Africa.

(29-Oct-05)

Back to the chronological list of reviews