Megan Mowbray
January 11, 2006

“The Constant Gardener”
Drugs and sex. Makes this movie sound like any other hot-to-trot American entertainment. But that’s where the similarities end with this movie and any other new movies right now. Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz deliver a stunning performance amidst an exotic backdrop in the confines of an all-too unfamiliar story. Many people have no idea what’s going on in Africa. Not to say Weisz’s discovery of a Kenya drug explosion and Fiennes’s desperate search to get to the bottom of her murder, which is all based on the book, “City of God,” is an exact portrayal of what’s going on, it’s definitely a possibility. This film should become part of any movie buff’s library, and at the very least, be seen again.

“Broken Flowers”
What is it about Bill Murray that makes his performances transcend the silver screen and really mess with your head? I can’t think of one Murray movie that I didn’t have at least one profound thought about after watching it. This movie, and its search for Murray’s bastard son’s mother, is no exception. Minimalistic and tantalizingly clever, this movie is a search for lost love, validation, and self expression.

“Red Eye”
Is there any movie that Rachel McAdams hasn’t been in recently? OK, I’m sure we could all think of a few, but the point is, this girl is everywhere. And somehow, all of her movies are good. A short little rendezvous of a thriller aboard an airplane, this movie doesn’t drag on leaving all the suspense for nothing. When McAdams realizes the charmer, Cillian Murphy, sitting next to her on her red eye flight home has her father held hostage, what choice does she have but to help Murphy carry out his plan to kill a homeland secretary of defense? This movie is one of Wes Craven’s best, a great specimen of the thriller genre. VT