El jardinero fiel

Really good and interesting. Had a good plot in it, but I wish Rachel had more screen time in the movie :( she was very beautiful and I liked her character a-lot!

Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) is a mild-mannered British diplomat. His wife Tessa Quayle (Rachel Weisz) is killed in remote Kenya. She was an activist researching a corrupt pharmaceutical company. His friend Sandy Woodrow (Danny Huston) is the High Commissioner in Nairobi. He starts investigating Tessa's murder and her research. He finds her friend Dr. Arnold Bluhm was also killed.

The movie does have the jumbo structure flashing back and forth. It would work even better if Justin starts investigating sooner. It's not until midpoint when Justin goes off into the field. The flashbacks could be incorporated into the investigating. The little clues are better if Justin is looking for them. Otherwise, this is a first class movie. It has an exotic African location, great performances, and a passionate story with a social angle. This is one of those great murky John le Carré espionage tales.

The movie's frustrating because it gives you a problem in this world to be angry about, depressing because that problem probably won't be solved anytime too soon. It becomes even more depressing because it puts more than one face on the problem and allows us to see the issue through someone who experienced it firsthand.

It doesn't matter if that person is fictional or not. Ralph Fiennes makes him real, and Meirelles surrounds him with what looks and feels like the real world. Ralph Fiennes plays Justin Quayle, a British diplomat married to Tessa (Rachel Weisz, in a heartbreaking performance just as noteworthy as Fiennes's). Justin has a job to do in Africa, and Tessa makes him take her with him, despite his misgivings. They end up entangled in a pharmaceutical battle that has taken lives before and, before the movie is over, will take many more.

The subject matter here begs to be heard, and Meirelles has provided it with a compelling venue. He films with a style that constantly keeps us engaged. It's hard to find fault with this movie. I didn't find myself wholeheartedly loving it either, but I admire it for its courage and emotional truth. The Constant Gardener grips you from the start in the lives of these two people and never lets you go, not even when the movie is over. It's hard to forget this story. I wouldn't want to.

I walked away from The Constant Gardener wondering how drug companies actually bench test their drugs. (The current Vioxx settlement certainly inspired cynicism) This is a thriller for the thinking crowd – with sufficient chase scenes and action sequences to justify the genre. It's paced slower then the average Grisham or Ludlum (Jason Bourne) movies I've come to love. But if you're interested in the stark realities of how medicines are tested in third world nations without having to endure negative consequences, this is a film you will want to see. It purports to reveal real-world events from Africa.

Pharmaceutical company corporate greed and compromised government ethics set the mood as Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz (on separate courses) do what they can to reveal the corruption spinning all around them. Fiennes is a British diplomat who understands what it takes to succeed in a compromising diplomatic position. Weisz refuses to give in. She's on a mission to reveal the truth - taking the political activist route - from the moment they meet. Fiennes is a love interest to the luscious Weisz, someone who offers an opportunity to cut the red tape and speed the truth about the mischief to which the drug company(s) are up to in Africa.

It's a brilliant movie showcasing how third world countries are (or can be) exploited. It deals with how a major pharmaceutical firm conducts harmful tests on ignorant, unsuspecting Kenyans. We see the other side of Africa – the side unseen in the enticing Kenyan safari tourist posters.

This is a thriller that thrills both the mind as well as the spirit. It left me wondering, "how close to the truth did they actually come?"

"Put $50,000 in the right hands and you can test battery acid as skin lotion" what a profound and telling statement.... especially with what's happening in the world today.