Constant Gardener

"The Constant Gardener" is a complicated and complex story that is masterfully pieced together, but at a painfully slow pace.

The opening scene introduces us to Justin (Ralph Fiennes) and Tessa (Rachel Weisz) Quayle as Tessa is about to embark on an overnight trip. In the very next scene, less than five minutes into the story, Tessa is dead. The remainder of the story unfolds in flashbacks as Justin begins to discover exactly what his wife was into and realizes that her death was not accidental. This is where the story gets complicated as Justin uncovers a British government cover-up involving pharmaceutical companies and unethical testing of drugs on impoverished Kenyans.

Basically, it was a lot more thinking to do than I was looking for. At the same time, the way the story unfolds and comes together is incredibly well done. Unfortunately, while it is billed as a "suspense thriller", "Gardener" comes across as more of a mellow mystery as it grows as slowly as the plants in Justin's garden. I give it a B+.

"The Constant Gardener" is rated R with a running time of 129 minutes.