The Constant Gardener

title: The Constant Gardener (2005) genre: Drama cast: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz score:

comments: Other than my love for both these actors, The Constant Gardener is engaging throughout. However I'm having trouble getting behind a higher rating due to the occasional scattered nature of the film — he's in Nairobi, in London, in Kenya, in Loki, in a small village somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. Thank God for the UN supply drop airplane.

synopsis: The movie starts where Tessa Quayle (Weisz) shows up dead on the side of the road. Flash how ever many years prior to the day she meets her future husband, Justin Quayle (Fiennes). He is a diplomat giving a speech about (don't actually know as I was interrupted momentarily by another persons stinking ass feet on the seat back next to me). She is an activist challenging him which apparently is all the aphrodisiac they need. After a short romance she announces she will go with him to Africa which is puzzling leap in the story and perhaps I should be thanking God they didn't waste valuable film time on this story development. In the end, does it even matter?

Skip who knows how many years forward to Tessa's 9th month of pregnancy. Secrecy seems to be looming in the marriage as the baby is still born and mother is breasting feeding an African womans new born. It's here that we see the first cut of the meat in the storyline.

In a country with an expendable population of HIV positive people and opportunistic drug companies we get a glimpse into what's possible in the name of greed. The story line is intense, the events often dramatic and the outcome seemingly bleak. But don't you fret. The bad guy gets dealt with eventually.

tip: If you're gonna prop your feet up on the seat back at least make sure your feet don't smell like onions, mold and rotten hot dogs.