How others will see it. Grim. That is how most people will interpret this downer movie. Oh, there are moments of relationship bliss between the polite and self-effacing Fiennes and the impassioned hottie Weisz, and there are some interesting shots of Africa and their indigenous residents.
But, mostly, it's an unpleasant detective story, which has Fiennes on the run from both white and black cold-blooded killers, while he investigates the doings of the EPC and their brutal response to his family. Those who like their detective stories realistic and without a trace of comedy may feel invigorated. The rest of us will merely think twice before taking that prescription for fill in the blank.
How I felt about it. Imagine you are an EPC. You are developed an important drug, one that will stop an impending global plague. But, some people who take this drug die. Should you refine it or release it?
Since an EPC can be driven to bankruptcy by lawsuits and bad PR associated with deaths from a flawed drug, it seems dubious that an EPC would push a known deadly drug onto the market. On the other hand, it is all too believable that poor Africans are targeted by EPCs as human guinea pigs for their concoctions.
It is also credible that the EPCs would try to discredit, even subtly threaten, an activist who wants to shed light on their dubious operations. But would they resort to murderous tactics of silencing dissidents, like something out of The Godfather? Do these things really happen, in other words?
Probably not, not even in Africa, where the price of life is apparently less dear. However, an exaggerated premise in itself should not doom a movie. Otherwise, the science fiction genre wouldn't exist.
The Constant Gardener, then, is instead limited by something else. My suspicion is that it is related to Fiennes' character. His transformation from awkward but lovable diplomat to a Hitchcockian man on the run hunted by killers is not satisfying, partly because assuming the tough guy detective is not in his character, and partly because even an EPC will only go so far.