It was Dean Acheson who said “Great Britain has lost an empire and not yet found a role.” In Fernando Meirelles’s adaptation of John Le Carré’s novel “The Constant Gardener,” the British diplomats stationed in Kenya have taken the role of spineless entrepreneurs, using HIV infected Kenyans as guinea pigs for cheap, harmful pharmaceuticals. Of course the pharmaceutical companies pay government officials handsomely for the opportunity. “We have to be rich before we help the poor” is the general belief of this slimy lot. But when foreign office middle man Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) discovers that his wife Tess (Rachel Weisz) has been murdered because of her investigation into the treatment of “disposable drugs for disposable people,” he continues her mission himself, simultaneously discovering that everything he thought he knew was wrong.

Meirelles’ last picture, “City of God,” was a Molotov cocktail of documentary realism, personal bio-pic and crime thriller, a riotous exposé of inner-city Rio. However, whereas “City of God” blazed onto screens like an unquenchable inferno, his latest effort is much more of a damp squib. Not that the film isn’t without its merits. Meirelles’ and cinematographer Cesar Charlone’s use of color on the screen is simply amazing—stark yellows, radiant reds and brilliant blues are juxtaposed with black faces in the hustle and bustle of the Kenyan shantytowns. London, by comparison, is portrayed in cold grays, and drawn faces have the complexion of rigor mortis.

However, like many Le Carré adaptations, the plot creaks along at a frustratingly cumbersome pace. Intriguing developments of the first hour of aren’t built upon or concluded sufficiently in the second, and while Meirelles’ aesthetics provide genuine amazement early on, they later slow the narrative down even further.

A stellar cast does their best to add a third dimension to their roles, but flaccid dialogue and some very tedious scenes make this very difficult. Bill Nighy, whose increased visibility on the big screen is most welcome, adds snarl but is constrained by far too little screen time. Danny Houston does a decent job as the back-stabbing, pen-pushing Sandy. But again, despite the actor’s best efforts, his role fails to bloom.

Le Carré’s spies and maverick diplomats flatten on the big screen, as if by sacrificing a normal life by joining the Foreign Office, they also sacrifice a personality. Indeed, the U.K. foreign office must have the dullest office parties around. Not that we necessarily need to see Miss Moneypenny sitting on the photocopier in her underwear, but just a memorable scene or two, some engaging, fuller dialogue, or at least a plot that is not so dependent on such sketchily drawn characters to carry it.

Nevertheless, Fiennes especially tries to eke a character progression in his portrayal of Quayle. Beginning as an apologist for British foreign policy, Fiennes’ delivery more than smacks of the nervy, articulate but ultimately empty utterances of current Prime Minister Tony Blair. His evolution from mild-mannered, rather wimpy foreign office apologist to mild-mannered, rather wimpy foreign office renegade just about keeps things going in the dreary second half of the picture. Weisz is similarly impressive as the angry and impassioned yet reckless Tess, whose intuitive tendencies set up the film so well.

Their relationship is at the film’s heart, but unfortunately the romance never seems plausible in the first place. While Quayle inanely grins over his geraniums and Tess attempts to bring down the British Foreign Office, what they are doing together is not exactly obvious.

Not that this is a bad film. It just could have been so much better. Despite the political backdrop of greedy CEOs and soulless politicians, relevant political matters are addressed in such a wishy-washy manner that it’s difficult to determine who we should be blaming. While a thriller doesn’t need Bond to be successful, it needn’t be as tired as this to be taken seriously.

Directed by: Fernando Meirelles
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Hubert Koundé, Danny Huston, Daniele Harford, Bill Nighy 
Rated R by the MPAA for
language, some violent images and sexual content/nudity.