IF a film ever deserved an award, The Constant Gardener is it.

Quite often, movies that have been hyped as much as this are be something of a let down, but Fernando Meirelles' sinister and moving tale of drugs companies' work in Africa, really hits the spot.

Based on a book by John Le Carr, the story sees Tessa Quayle as the wife of a British diplomat in Africa, whose relentless attempts to expose huge pharmaceutical companies for their exploitation of African people result in her murder.

Her husband, the more level-headed Justin, is rocked by her death and forced into action, taking on his own government in an effort to find her killers.

Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz are brilliant in the leading roles, and have shed their celebrity and glamour to play their characters with an insight and honesty that makes them truly believable, a quality often bereft in Hollywood blockbusters.

And backed up by an equally talented cast, there is no one who can be said to let the side down in this film.

The plot material may be quite heavy and convoluted at times, but the story is told clearly enough to prevent it from being confusing.

And just the right combination of action, quality storyline, romance, and tragedy make the film the true blockbuster everybody said it was.

ECB