movie review: the constant gardener

better late than never. specially requested by the best girlfriend in the world...

ralph fiennes, a diplomat, meets and falls in love with rachel weisz, a human rights activist. their seeminly perfect relationship is crumbled when her snooping around about drug-testing on african children gets her killed. he sets out to find the truth out only to put himself in the middle of a dangerous conspiracy.

this remarkable film was directed by the dude who made the outstanding city of god, and ingeniously a love story, a drama, and a thriller whipped up together with a lil wee bit of documentary flavor. the great colors, the fantastic shots, and the fine switching of tones make better the simple yet gripping storyline. ralph fiennes did really well. the scene where he is tending a plant in his house and his friend tells him his wife had died, the reaction on his face, awesome. rachel weisz was just as magnificent, proving that her acting skill isnt limited (after seeing her last in constantine). that look in her eyes when she offered herself to a guy to get the papers she needed was classic.

i like it. it... moved me. it's a great movie with a great message and it gets that message across, depends on the type of person you are whether that message is gently absorbed into your skin and glows from within or you feel it slapped hard onto your face like a wet slipper (to me it was like a button was pressed and a new feature was turned on). however there is a tiny part of me that itches negatively about it (maybe because my companion had already seen it with someone else before me?). oh well...

the good: it inspires and makes you realize how you take so many things for granted.
the bad: eventhough i fully understand their purpose, the repeating videos were sorta annoying.
the ugly: the slums and the golf course separated only a railroad track. depressing. consider ourselves lucky.
the verdict: 9.5 (out of 10)

let us all hope (and do our part as well) for a world without weeds...