Hollywood at its best

Rating: 9/10 (25 December 2006)

Immaculate craftsmanship, fast pacing, beautiful actors and acting, spectacular locations...that's Hollywood. Add an engaging story, character and a message, and you now have a good reason to go out to a movie instead of sitting on your duff watching pay-per-view. But Blood Diamond is one of those flicks that make it worth the effort to drive the extra mile to get a perfect screen, projector, print, sound and stadium seating.
Leo DiCaprio has now reached the point where, like Gable, you can't forget it's him in the role, not because he's not good but because he's so good. He does become the character, but, I mean, you can't stop saying, Wow, this guy is great. (Ignore the idiots who gripe about the accent. His accent is fine.) Oscar nomination cinched.
Same problem with Jennifer Connelly: she's really a fine actress, but she's so damned beautiful...that skin, the nose, the eyes...
Same goes for Djimon Hounsou. Great looking but, Wow, acts even better! There's this scene where Leo's character barks at him to follow, and Djimon says, "Yeah, boss" in a way that's impossible to describe. He submits, but the same time puts the bwana in his place.
And the kid who plays Djimon's son.... How about a special Oscar?
Couple of quibbles. I'd like to have seen less chase and more process. The blood diamond trade was described, but we only saw part of it. A bit more intrigue, a little more Syriana-like complexity, would have been nice. Also, some of the local non-English dialog wasn't sub-titled in places where I feel it should have been.
That said, Edward Zwick has shown us why, when it comes to movie-making, no one else in the world comes close to Hollywood.