Saw this one on DVD. One of the best of 2005, exceptional storytelling, fantastic acting and interesting from a technical viewpoint. A-

Sweet. Levy's awesome. You have an awesome signature too.

PEACE, Mike.

I thought it was pretty great, and very Michael Clayton-esque (though I suppose I should say Clayton is Constant Gardener-esque) in almost all its features: kinetic, dynamic camerawork (though the camera was much more active here), stellar performances, a non-linear, complex plot that never gets fully resolved, and a sociopolitical edge to its message. So, for only that reason, I quite loved it.

My only real complaint is that telling us that Justin's "suicide" was actually murder, before showing us, takes away a lot of the drama and emotion of that final scene. Though I suppose it needed to end on the lake, rather than the funeral. I dunno. Something about that ending just bugged me, despite its raw power.

Still, great film.

Fiennes and Weisz are great but the plot is a bit underwhelming compared to their performances.

Fantastic film in each conceivable way, from the acting to the storyline to the visual style. It is a shame how far Meirelles has plummeted since his dynamite one-two punch of this and City of God.

Rewatched it recently. I stand by my original assessment. Technically impeccable, the score is one of the best of the last decade (Inglesias shall score all Le Carré adaptations from now on) and Ralph Fiennes delivers a strong turn. But it never really works for me emotionally and, most of all, I still find Weisz' character incredibly grating.

Interesting assessment, Arthur.

I find idealists who insist on forcing their opinions on others (right or wrong) grating. And she did what she did without any regard to her unborn child too.

Obviously she was fighting the right cause, yadda yadda yadda, but the way her character is presented made me want to punch her every time she started speaking. Luckilly, I am not even the only one in this thread to see it this way.

The Constant Gardener

A good film, in parts, but not thrilling and although it was shot very well with its avant garde style, it just couldn't keep me interested in the subject matter - I couldn't care less about African corruption, corporate greed and the dying African. It was basically just another film that states "yeah, Africa is still bad", and we don't need another one of those. We get enough of that with Comic Relief and Children in Need.

Ralph Fiennes and Rachael Weisz were amazing, and the script was pretty spot-on with the realism too. The film needed some suspense or action to make it worthwhile, but I suppose its aim wasn't to entertain or thrill, but more to push its message into the western conciousness.

C+

Bill Nighy's reaction when the brother begins to read his memo at the end is epic.

He wasn't the brother. He was Weisz's second cousin. And the reaction wasn't what I was expecting. I thought he would have got up and walked out much sooner than he did. Instead, he let him pretty much finish the whole letter.

Second cousin. Apologies.

Next up for me in this area is The English Patient and Blood Diamond.

You will love Blood Diamond.

The English Patient, I am not so sure. I love it, though.

Yes, I've been wanting to watch Blood Diamond for years. It's Zwick, and he made one of the best movies ever made with The Last Samurai.

dupe