'Constant Gardener' is close to perfection
By Claudia Puig

 Don't be put off by the mild and dull-sounding title. "The Constant Gardener" is a masterwork of suspense, romance and political intrigue. It is a taut and gripping thriller that dazzles the eyes and engages the brain with its twisting plot in a way that few recent films have come close to approaching.

Told in a nonlinear style that requires close attention, the film is vastly rewarding to viewers seeking a smart and complex love story. That it offers passion, betrayal, gorgeous cinematography, social commentary, stellar performances and clever wit puts it in a special category of near perfection. "The Constant Gardener" is the rare film than satisfies on every level.

Based on John le Carre's 2001 novel, the movie has an epic feel that could make it a best picture contender and result in nominations for several of the key actors.

In his best performance since "Schindler's List," Ralph Fiennes stars as Justin, a reserved, mid-level British diplomat who is deeply drawn to the passion and intensity of a human rights activist, Tessa, played with the just right amount of brio and feistiness by Rachel Weisz.

The two fall in love, marry and move to Kenya. Once there, the pregnant Tessa teams with a local doctor in an effort to help native Africans suffering from AIDS and tuberculosis. She also embarks on secret research that implicates a major pharmaceutical corporation in criminal activity. When she ends up dead, apparently murdered, signs point in different directions.

Fueled by grief for the woman he clearly adored, and haunted by things left unsaid, Justin sets out on a perilous and complex journey to uncover the details of her demise. His dangerous odyssey takes him across Africa and back to Europe, where he becomes politicized in the process of working out his sadness.

There are a host of possible conspirators and implied infidelities possibly involving diplomats played by Danny Huston and Bill Nighy, in a topnotch performance, and a crusty doctor played by Pete Postlethwaite. In classic thriller fashion, Justin ends up in a web of paranoia not knowing whom to trust.

But there is nothing formulaic about the way the story plays out, often through a series of flashbacks, under the expert direction of Fernando Meirelles. "The Constant Gardener" proves that Meirelles' brilliant and unsettling last film, "City of God," was no fluke. The Academy honored his work on that gritty film, set in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, and should pay close attention to his achievements on this larger-scale effort. Screenwriter Jeffrey Caine took a multilayered novel and adeptly fashioned it into an intelligent and riveting movie.

Fiennes and Weisz's chemistry is palpable, and their fiery love story is all the more moving when set against the vibrantly colored backdrop of the African countryside. The film brilliantly fuses their romance with a consciousness of the vast, tragic poverty and disease rampant in Africa, the arrogance of corrupt politicians and greedy corporations and the ineptitude of local governments.

"The Constant Gardener" is at once romantic and purposeful, poignant and thought-provoking, but it is not medicinal. The story hurtles, jolts and fascinates from start to finish.

 

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