Posted by Mr. Beaks

Ignoring the conventional wisdom that John Le Carre novels make for exceptionally unexciting motion pictures (to wit:  The Little Drummer Girl, The Russia House and The Tailor of Panama), City of God co-auteur, Fernando Meirelles, has lined himself up one helluva crucible for his sophomore feature in The Constant Gardner. 

And, if this trailer is any indication, he just may have pulled off what John Boorman, George Roy Hill and Fred Schepisi couldn’t do.

The film stars Ralph Fiennes as Justin Quayle, an anguished British diplomat compelled to investigate the murder of his wife, Tessa (Rachel Weisz), which the authorities claim was a crime of passion committed by her paramour.   Justin, however, believes differently, and his investigation slowly begins to implicate a powerful pharmaceutical company.

The film is scheduled for release August 26^th, which is never a sign of confidence for a potential year-end awards contender (Focus Features dumped Vanity Fair around the same date this time last year), but the early word, at least from David Poland and Jeffrey Wells, is very encouraging.