A bleak view of war torn Sierra Leone and the how the conflict was fuelled

Rating: 7/10 (27 January 2007)

The film is action packed, with an obvious love story but don't let that detract from a brutal realism of how barbaric the civil war in Sierra Leone was. The acting is led by Leo's strong performance and although he is not in my top ten actors by any stretch of the imagination i think he is going to get better and better in much the same way Brad Pitt has. The plot itself is served up in a series of chapters and i assume this is to retain some link to the book it was based on (?). I did like this format but think that the real quality in the film comes from the abhorrant and misguided violence of the rebel forces. A strong focus is on the people of the conflict, and the innocent role the civilians played. Whilst a complex political arena highlights the mechanism behind the civil war, it is obvious to see parallels to current world conflicts. The timing of this movie lends itself to further comment on the economic motives for any war and once these wars have begun, who keeps them going.