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MOVIES / ON DVD / THE CONSTANT GARDENER
The Constant Gardener

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The Constant Gardener (2005)

84%
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84%
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84 %
Reviews Counted: 179 Fresh: 150  Rotten:29 Average Rating: 7.6/10
 
Consensus: The Constant Gardener is a smart, gripping, and suspenseful thriller with rich performances from the leads. The Constant Gardener is a smart, gripping, and suspenseful thriller with rich performances from the leads. more
 
Rated: 15
Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins
Theatrical Release: 11-11-2005
Synopsis:
Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles, whose previous film, CITY OF GOD, won awards all over the world--and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2004 Oscars--has crafted another highly entertaining yet important film. Beautifully shot in Kenya, Germany, Sudan, Manitoba,... [More]
Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles, whose previous film, CITY OF GOD, won awards all over the world--and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2004 Oscars--has crafted another highly entertaining yet important film. Beautifully shot in Kenya, Germany, Sudan, Manitoba, and London, THE CONSTANT GARDENER, based on a bestselling novel by John Le Carré, is an exciting mix of romance and spy thriller. Ralph Fiennes stars as Justin Quayle, a low-level British diplomat who has always gone about his work very quietly, not causing any problems. But after his radical wife, Tessa (Rachel Weisz), is killed, he becomes determined to find out why, thrusting himself into the middle of a very dangerous conspiracy. Jeffrey Caine's powerful screenplay alternates between flashbacks of Justin and Tessa's relationship and Justin's hunt for the truth, which makes him a target--although he doesn't know who is after him. Fine support is offered by Danny Huston as his close friend and confidant, Sandy; Bill Nighy as shady British official Sir Bernard Pellegrin; and Hubert Koundé as Arnold Bluhm, an African doctor who might have been a little too friendly with Tessa. Meirelles's pacing is outstanding, switching effortlessly between political intrigue, action adventure, and love story. And Fiennes and Weisz give strong performances playing complex characters that will continually surprise the audience. THE CONSTANT GARDENER is a thrilling tale from start to finish. [Less]

Genre: Thriller

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Danny Huston, Bill Nighy, Daniele Harford

Director: Fernando Meirelles
Screenwriter: Jeffrey Caine
Producer: Simon Channing Williams
Composer: Alberto Iglesias

DVD Info

Release:

Oct 1, 2006

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Dual Side - Single Layer
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 English
  • Dolby Digita 5.1 French
  • Subtitles - English (SDH)
  • Subtitles - French
  • Subtitles - Spanish

Additional Release Material:

  • Deleted Scenes
  • Extended Scene - Haruma - Play In Kibera
  • Featurette - 1. EMBRACING AFRICA: FILMING IN KENYA
  • 2. JOHN LE CARRE: FROM PAGE TO THE SCREEN
  • 3. ANATOMY OF A GLOBAL THRILLER: BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE CONSTANT GARDENER

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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Ratings Image

While le Carre's narrative returns an unequivocal guilty verdict on the drug companies, the jury on Meirelles's storytelling abilities remains hung.

Full Review | Comment
01/20/07 05:14 AM
Mark Kermode
Observer [UK]
Ratings Image

Serious, topical filmmaking of a very high order.

Full Review | Comment
04/01/06 03:51 AM
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

[A] haunting and highly-intelligent thriller.

Full Review | Comment
12/06/05 07:52 PM
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
Ratings Image

There is a terrific pulse of energy in this film, a voltage which drives it over two hours.

Full Review | Comment
12/06/05 07:52 PM
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

It's a sign of the competence of everyone involved that The Constant Gardener never feels hectoring or self-righteous.

Full Review | Comment
11/11/05 03:50 PM
Simon Guerrier
FilmFocus
Ratings Image

Weisz delivers what is perhaps her best screen performance to date; her relationship with Fiennes is complex and genuinely affecting.

Full Review | Comment
10/29/05 03:42 AM
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image

This haunting film will linger with you as a portrait of love lost and found.

Full Review | Comment
10/25/05 03:15 AM
Andy Jacobs
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

One of the most gripping and powerfully moving thrillers in memory; absolutely everything about this film works.

Full Review | Comment
08/26/05 04:07 AM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image

Fernando Meirelles, codirector of City of God, stresses old-fashioned storytelling and takes full advantage of his cast, including Danny Huston.

Full Review | Comment
11/27/07 03:49 PM
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
N/R

Fiennes has always been good, but in author John le Carré's 2000 postimperial African thriller, he may have found his signature role.

Full Review | Comment
08/16/07 03:15 AM
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York
Ratings Image

What it adds up to is a good yarn that uses real political concerns to make itself look beefier than the average Hollywood thriller.

Full Review | Comment
07/30/07 03:19 PM
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
07/14/07 04:11 AM
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
Ratings Image

a deeply intelligent and profoundly moral examination of a world where the political and the personal cannot ever be kept apart.

Full Review | Comment
07/03/07 03:38 AM
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film
Ratings Image

Elaborate, cynical, ambitious, eager, visually arresting, the film wants it all and gives plenty.

Full Review | Comment
03/01/07 03:36 AM
Doris Toumarkine
Film Journal International
Ratings Image

The pornography of Third World damage and suffering for the popcorn munching voyeuristic entertainment of more economically cozy moviegoers.

Full Review | Comment
02/08/07 06:51 PM
Prairie Miller
WBAI Web Radio
Ratings Image

The Constant Gardener" has strengths that aren't apparent until the final credits start rolling.

Full Review | Comment
11/20/06 09:22 PM
Dan Lybarger
Kansas City Star
Ratings Image

Fiennes does a brilliant job of communicating his character's inner turmoil through subtle facial expressions and inflections of his voice.

Full Review | Comment
09/11/06 01:56 PM
Peter T. Chattaway
Christianity Today
Ratings Image

click to read full review [Greek]

Full Review | Comment
09/10/06 03:52 PM
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses
Ratings Image

Admirably composed, even if it ultimately feels a bit of a shame that it all has to come down to good guys and bad guys.

Full Review | Comment
08/07/06 01:22 PM
Leo Goldsmith
Not Coming to a Theater Near You
Ratings Image

A ratos lenta y demasiado contemplativa, pero no en perjuicio significativo del resultado cinematográfico final.

Full Review | Comment
05/06/06 08:25 AM
Flavio J. Arosemena
Doncinema.com
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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