Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Constant Gardener Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 12, 2015

The Constant Gardener, Director Fernando Meirelles' (City of God) acclaimed 2005 politically-charged Thriller, comes sourced from the novel of the same named penned by Author John le Carré, published in 2001. The film, starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz, explores the dangerous, unseen world of political corruption meets big money corporate interests and follows one couple's journey, across different timeframes and under different circumstances, to unravel the truth. The picture is rich and full of life yet dark and despairing all at once, a firm, well-crafted Thriller that wears its ambitions and its messages on its sleeve but that nevertheless entices its audience with a provocative narrative framed in oftentimes gorgeous photography and defined by several top-tier lead performances. The only major drawback comes in the film's somewhat stale story that pits the corporate world against individual crusaders, but it's nevertheless a well-done film with a dominating technical production in support.

Unwelcome news.

When activist Tessa Quayle (Rachel Weisz) is murdered, her husband Justin (Ralph Fiennes) chooses to dig more deeply into her death. While the film occasionally looks back at their burgeoning relationship and the time leading to her death, it largely focuses on Justin's hunt for answers which tend to only reveal more questions about his wife and the people with whom both she and he regularly interacted. Justin comes to learn that his wife was hot on the trail of a corrupt pharmaceutical giant that is testing a new drug on Kenyan citizens and disregarding the dangers the drug is introducing into the communities. As Justin further unravels the truth, he comes to learn that nobody can be trusted, not even his, or his wife's, closest friends and associates.

As alluded to above, The Constant Gardener is built around a politically complex tale of corruption, lax standards, poor judgment, and unscrupulous ethics. It boils down to a story of one woman's uphill battle to expose the truth and, following her death, her husband's taking of the torch, so to speak, in following her in her crusade, a mission he undertakes while investigating the circumstances surrounding her death. The film, in essence, feels a little heavy-handed at times. The message is blunt and central to the story, but the movie is carried as much by the darker intrigue and general drama as it is the overt commentary on humanity versus corporate interests blind to much of anything beyond the bottom line. Viewers looking for more traditionally structured "escapist" sorts of thrillers should look elsewhere for their entertainment, but those in search of a savvy story of big business misdeeds and political corruption will find a worthwhile candidate in The Constant Gardener, even if there's an underlying "been here, done that" vibe to it at its most basic level.

Though the film stands strongly enough on the pedigree of its story and themes, it plays significantly better as something of a technical marvel. The picture boasts simple yet gorgeous photography and remarkably steady yet involved direction. It's a beautiful portrait of cinema as a personal, intimate delivery vehicle for a chosen narrative, and with this story's harder-hitting tale of death, corruption, and questionable ethics, the film flows with a beautiful effortlessness that pulls the viewer into the story, shapes it, and transforms it into something much more intimately detailed that enhances, rather than distracts from, the story. That synergy carries over into the performances, too. Rachel Weisz is terrific in her Oscar winning performance as a blunt, driven activist who stands tall in the huge shadow of the injustice and wrongdoings against which she battles. Ralph Fiennes, likewise, is terrific as the man who follows in her footsteps and undergoes a significant metamorphosis from shy, unprepared low-level diplomat to a crusader in his own right, astonishing with his performance and each new revelation he uncovers and each step forward he takes towards his destiny.

The Constant Gardener Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Constant Gardener features a good all-around 1080p transfer. The filmed image retains a fairly consistent, evident, but unobtrusive grain structure that only infrequently gives way to a somewhat pastier, cleaner appearance. Details are firm but not quite tangibly lifelike, with a prevailing softness evident through much of the film. Still, facial features are nicely preserved in close-up shots, while various shots of tough African terrain are sharp and vivid. Colors often shift with location, with the image featuring a bright, hot, slightly over-saturated color scheme in African exteriors and favoring a gray, coolish palette away from those exteriors. Shadow detail is often a little less than ideal with light crush evident in darker backdrops. Skin tones vary with the aforementioned lighting and contrast. Generally, the image is clean and features no obtrusive, excessive flaws. Overall, this is a quality transfer from Universal.

The Constant Gardener Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Constant Gardener's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack impresses from the outset with a nicely enveloping background din at an airport that's full and lively, making fine use of the entire 5.1 configuration. The track further engages with a healthy surround component and excellent spacing, whether amongst large crowds or in a lecture hall through which dialogue lightly and naturally reverberates. Music is controlled and pleasing, with a welcome full stage participation and smooth, accurate delivery and clarity. Dialogue is a dominant force, of course, and the spoken word comes through with commendable effortlessness and intelligibility from the center.

The Constant Gardener Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Constant Gardener contains several extras but no DVD or digital copy. No "top menu" is included. All extras and settings must be accessed in-movie from the "pop-up" menu button.

• Deleted Scenes (480i, 10:33): A group of untitled scenes.
• Extended Scene: Haruma -- Play in Kibera (480i, 9:42).
• Embracing Africa: Filming in Kenya (480i, 9:29): As the title suggests, this piece features cast and crew examining the benefits of filming on-location and the population's embrace of the project.
• John Le Carré: From Page to the Screen (480i, 8:07): A closer look at the writer and the process of transitioning his work to the screen.
• Anatomy of a Global Thriller: Behind the Scenes of The Constant Gardener (480i, 11:34): A look at characters and character dynamics and interaction, plot details, work on the set, shooting locales, and more.

The Constant Gardener Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Constant Gardener is a better film along its technical axis than it is along its dramatic axis. The core story feels not unimportant or uneventful but rather like something of an emotional facilitator, an easy cause to get behind that makes a good starting point for a Thriller than can easily differentiate heroes and villains. In this case, the villains are stock and the heroes, too, aren't particularly deep or interesting. They fight a battle that's part of a much larger war of ideas that have seen multiple interpretations in the guise of entertainment. That's not to degrade the story, its meaning, its impact, or its purpose, but the film often feels more like an avenue of convenience more so that something more novel that might have made a larger impact. The film unquestionably works better when considering its technical merits, including several flawless performances and its exquisite direction and photographic style. It's a worthwhile movie but one that lacks dramatic novelty or creativity, though it does mean well in how it plays with the ideas on hand. Universal's Blu-ray release of The Constant Gardener features good video and audio. Supplements for this catalogue title are unsurprisingly recycled from the DVD release. Recommended.