The Constant Gardener

I knew nothing about this movie before watching it, though I'm sure I'd heard of it somehow, but from its name I assumed it was going to be a girly movie with, I don't know, a lot of gardening in it? So it sort of took me by surprise when I pulled the disk out of the netflix sleeve and saw Ralph Fiennes holding a gun. (Only one gun, though, so it really didn't pass muster with Hud).

However, even the picture on the disk did not give me the right idea. Although we briefly see Fiennes handle a gun in a scene or two, he's certainly no James Bond, and I don't recall ever seeing him pointing the gun at anyone or anything the way he is in that photo. I think Hud was a little disappointed that Justin Quayle wasn't anything like James Bond. In fact, the movie prompted him to ask me, "Why do these movies always have to be about something?" I think you would be correct in assuming this is not my husband's kind of movie.

Really, this is not my usual movie, either. I wouldn't be surprised if the novel it was adapted from was absolutely excellent (though, that I recall, I have never read anything by John le Carré, so I can't be sure if he writes excellent books), but I don't generally watch movies featuring political activism or healthcare policy in Africa. Not so much because I am heartless and cruel (though I am), but because I prefer movies as entertainment and books as thought-provokers.

But this was an excellent movie! If I had known what it was about, I probably never would have watched it, so it's good that I went into it blindly, because that way I experienced what I would otherwise have blocked myself from. This movie was engrossing, and thought-provoking, and eye-opening, and overall quite well-done. Don't choose this movie for a fun, lighthearted evening, but do watch it when you have the chance. And not just because Ralph Fiennes is pretty hot when he's not playing Voldemort.