The Constant Gardener

I had heard a lot of hype about “The Constant Gardener” before I got to see it this week. Aside from the great reviews, the film boasted the director of “City of God”, Fernando Meirelles, and was based on a novel by John Le Carré. It also features a very impressive cast, including Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bill Nighy and Pete Postlethwaite. With all that, the thing I remember most is that about a third of the way into the film, I was wondering what I was going to grab to eat afterwards because I was getting hungry.

That isn’t to say it’s a bad film. The actors provided good performances and the story was intriguing. But perhaps due to a spot placed before the trailers and certainly because of all the not-so-subtle reminders during the film, I felt like the film was more about sending a message about the problems in Africa than about telling a story. Maybe it was a central theme to the source novel but I’m not one who likes to be preached to or patronized.

Putting aside the humanitarian overtones, another aspect of the film I found more distracting than engaging was the camera work. While it worked well in his previous effort, “City of God”, Meirelles’ use of handheld cameras for this film was annoying to say the least. With the advent of the steadicam, filmmakers worldwide are able to keep me from feeling like I’m on a boat in the middle of a tropical storm. And I’ll even forgive shots involving movement, but when your shooting a scene where two people are standing still and the camera is shaking like it’s being held by your great grandmother who was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s, there’s a problem.

Continuing my rant on poor camera work, I was also annoyed with how Meirelles chose to frame his shots. Often shooting the scene tilted, or with the main characters off to one side, I spent more time wanting to adjust or steady the camera than I did in traffic on the way home from work.

So since I really don’t feel like talking about this film any more, let me just say that there are good acting performances, especially from Weisz and Fiennes. The crux of the story was interesting, though I think I would enjoy reading the book much more than watching this movie.

I’m going to give it a 3 out of 5 - my inability to connect with the film may be a personal problem, judging by the overall positive response this film has generated. Me personally, I’ll be enjoying a six pack of Old Style while forgetting to help out the needy in Africa, like the rest of America does. Dammit, that plea for help at the beginning of the trailers stuck with me more than the film. I need a Coke and some McDonalds.