Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Ralph Fiennes | ... | Justin Quayle | |
Rachel Weisz | ... | Tessa Quayle | |
Hubert Koundé | ... | Dr. Arnold Bluhm (as Hubert Kounde) | |
Danny Huston | ... | Sandy Woodrow | |
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Daniele Harford | ... | Miriam |
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Packson Ngugi | ... | Officer in Morgue |
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Damaris Itenyo Agweyu | ... | Jomo's Wife |
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Bernard Otieno Oduor | ... | Jomo |
Bill Nighy | ... | Sir Bernard Pellegrin | |
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Keith Pearson | ... | Porter Coleridge |
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John Sibi-Okumu | ... | Dr. Joshua Ngaba |
Donald Sumpter | ... | Tim Donohue | |
Archie Panjabi | ... | Ghita Pearson | |
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Nick Reding | ... | Crick |
Gerard McSorley | ... | Sir Kenneth Curtiss |
In a remote area of Northern Kenya, activist Tessa Quayle is found brutally murdered. Tessa's companion, a doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and the evidence points to a crime of passion. Members of the British High Commission in Nairobi assume that Tessa's widower, their mild-mannered and unambitious colleague Justin Quayle, will leave the matter to them. They could not be more wrong. Haunted by remorse and jarred by rumors of his late wife's infidelities, Quayle surprises everyone by embarking on a personal odyssey that will take him across three continents. Using his privileged access to diplomatic secrets, he will risk his own life, stopping at nothing to uncover and expose the truth - a conspiracy more far-reaching and deadly than Quayle could ever have imagined. Written by focus features
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.