In the opening scene of The Constant Gardener,
British diplomat Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) sees off his wife,
Tessa (Rachel Weisz), as she leaves on a trip from which we know
she’ll never return. From a Kenyan airstrip, activist Tessa
is traveling with a Red Cross physician to a meeting with an
unknown purpose; within a few days, both of them will be found
murdered. As Tessa heads to the plane, director Fernando Meirelles
keeps the focus on Justin in the foreground as Tessa’s shape
dissolves into a blur amid a blast of overexposed glare. That
single shot of a man watching his beloved disappear from his life
is, quite literally, dazzling.
So it’s perhaps
even more disappointing, after such a brilliant opening, to watch
the film itself dissolve into a similar blur.
It didn’t have to be like that.
Meirelles — the precociously talented, Oscar-nominated
director of City of God— actually makes a wise choice early on
by focusing not on novelist John Le Carré’s trademark
international intrigue but on the relationship between Justin and
Tessa. He flashes back to their first meeting in London —
establishing a tension between Justin’s go-along-to-get-along
career company man and Tessa’s fiery cage-rattler — and
their impulsive decision to get married before Justin leaves for an
assignment in Africa. There’s a wonderful improvisational
rhythm to the interplay between Fiennes and Weisz, a natural
chemistry shaped by sharp editing. For a while, this
“thriller” is actually a terrific, tragic love story.
But this tale has other fish of another genre
to fry. As Justin begins to probe the events surrounding
Tessa’s death, he begins to unravel suspicious dealings
involving some of his government colleagues — including his
boss, Sir Bernard (Bill Nighy), and his best friend, Sandy (Danny
Huston) — and pharmaceutical companies doing business in
Kenya. He’s shipped back to England, and his life is
threatened. It’s quite the setup for an emotion-packed
detective story.
But the mystery, such as it is, doesn’t
take particularly long to solve. By approximately the end of the
first hour, it’s fairly clear who is in bed with whom
politically, as are the specific shady activities in which the
pharmaceutical company is engaged. Justin spends most of the
remaining running time essentially finding additional people to
tell him, “Yes, there is indeed a conspiracy.”
It’s true that in a sense, Jeffrey
Caine’s screenplay adaptation uses the conspiracy as a red
herring. The film is set squarely in the shadow of the current war in
Iraq, and the title itself turns Justin’s hobby into a metaphor
for people so buried in the minutiae of their lives that they’re
unable to see what’s going on in the bigger picture. The Constant Gardener, in
theory, becomes as much about Justin learning about himself — and
the Tessa he only barely understood when she was alive — as it is
about the harsh realities of global economics.
The problem is that everything begins to feel
redundant during the film’s final hour. Everything of
consequence there is to know about the players in the plot, we
know; everything of consequence there is to know about Justin and
Tessa, we know. Although Fiennes’ performance and
Meirelles’ stylish direction provide some distraction,
eventually the repetition of the film’s political message
— building up to the trite use of mournful tribal chants and
a chest-thumping speech — simply becomes wearying. It could
just as easily be titled The Constant
Reminders That We Exploit the Third World.
It’s inevitable in the current
political climate that some people will see artistry in The Constant Gardener
just because they agree with its worldview. Yet — at the risk
of reopening that can of Fahrenheit
9/11 worms — there’s a
difference between a worthy idea and a great movie. After that
remarkable opening, the glare of his own good intentions blinds
Meirelles to a story that keeps running in circles.
Also in theaters this week. . .
The Aristocrats [Not rated] A who’s who of comedians tells the same dirty
joke in its many forms since the days of Vaudeville. Parkway Pointe
The 40-Year-Old Virgin [R] Nerdy electronic store employee Andy Stitzer is a
virgin, a 40-year-old virgin. When his friends find out, they try to
rectify matters, but their quest hits a road bump when Stitzer
falls in love. ShowPlace East,
ShowPlace West
The Transporter 2 [PG-13] Action-packed films about ex-Special Forces
operative Frank Martin. Think lots of car chases. ShowPlace East, ShowPlace West
Supercross [PG-13] After the death of their father, two motocross biking
brothers are determined to win the Las Vegas Motocross
Championships. Parkway Pointe
Underclassmen [PG-13] At an Ivy League university, a detective goes undercover to
bust up an auto theft scheme. Parkway
Pointe
Valiant [G] A
small-fry pigeon named Valiant works hard and become a force to be
reckoned with in Great Britain’s Royal Air Force Homing
Pigeons Service during World War II. Route
66 Drive-In
This article appears in Sep 1-7, 2005.
