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'The Constant Gardener' has invigorating energy

Finding a good movie on Labor Day weekend usually requires some serious digging as Hollywood unloads the films even it considers bad. However, this weekend unearths one jewel: "The Constant Gardener," a haunting romantic thriller that not only moved me, but actually gained power the more I thought about it after seeing it.

Based on the John Le Carre novel, the film wastes little time in making an impact: it opens after Tessa (Rachel Weisz), a passionate activist, is murdered.

Focus Features 'The Constant Gardener' A The verdict: Like the romance it depicts, this movie takes root and grows into something even more vivid than it was at first sight. Director: Fernando Meirelles Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Danny Huston, Archie Panjabi, Bill Nighy Run time: 129 minutes Release date: August 31, 2005 Rating: R for language, some violent images and sexual content/nudity. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate "The Constant Gardener"   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Left to sort out the mystery of her death is her grieving husband, Justin (Ralph Fiennes), a British diplomat who had a rocky relationship with his wife, having never adjusted his complacent outlook to her very proactive one. As it turns out, she was carrying incriminating information about pharmaceutical companies and their unethical practices in Africa.

I very much admired the movie as I watched it, but thought at first it was biting off a little more than it could chew. It's so ambitious that some parts of the story seemed to get short shrift, particularly the romance. It happens so quickly, and is presented with so many flashbacks and flash forwards, that the emotion seemed to be lacking.

"The Constant Gardener" is hardly a conventional romance, however. The more I thought about the film, the more I realized that it's not so much about the love between the two of them as it is about how Justin comes to love Tessa more after she dies. The more he investigates, the more passionate he becomes.

Infusing the movie with much of its passion is director Fernando Meirelles, who exploded on the scene with his electrifying 2003 movie "City of God." "The Constant Gardener" definitively proves that "City of God" was no fluke. While it doesn't have the breathless momentum of "City of God," Meirelles gives "The Constant Gardener" an invigorating energy all its own. He often gives the scenes a bleached-out appearance that very well conveys the harshness of the African landscape. The intricate editing may seem to slow the movie at first, but it's actually reflecting Justin's frazzled state of mind.

Fiennes adds another excellent performance to his continually impressive career, gaining in strength as Justin learns not to sit idly by. Weisz, an intense actress who had never really had a part that expressed her full range, finally finds it here with her best performance yet.

The film's harrowing portrayal of the amoral pharmaceutical practices only increases its power. While the story is a fiction, a quote from La Carre in the end credits gave me pause: "I came to realize that, by comparison with the reality, my story was as tame as a holiday postcard."

Readers often ask me what was so great about "Movie X" when it doesn't blow them away right after they see it. Not all great movies make an immediate impact, and "The Constant Gardener" is the perfect example of that. Like the romance it depicts, this movie takes root and grows into something even more vivid than it was at first sight.