Whilst the shoot-outs and car chases will refrain your butt from numbing, the political issues will have you stroking your chin all the same.

Rating: 7/10 (27 February 2007)

If diamonds really are a girl's best friend, they must be an African's worst nightmare, as Blood Diamond uncovers the filthy truth behind the murky trade business of conflict diamonds. Ed Zwick's new film is an issue movie, dressed up as a rip-roaring action-thriller (or an issuetainment film to all you Sun readers). The issue of conflict diamonds is raised right at the start, as a table full of UN "peacekeepers" discusses the problems with how our sparkly necklaces may have, at one time or another, been drenched in crimson at the hands of smugglers.
Our story centres on the family of Soloman Vandy (Honsou), a fisherman from Mende whose village is ravished by an armed mob of diamond smugglers, sealing Vandy into slavery, and kidnapping his son. A South African smuggler by the name of Danny (DiCaprio) is thrown in prison for smuggling, and it is here that he meets Vandy. Learning of Soloman's catch of a massive diamond, he uses him in order to make the sale of a lifetime. Unfortunately, his quest to locate the stone is complicated through both Vandy's son being brainwashed by the RUF mercenaries, and a journalist by the name of Maddy Bowen (Connolly), who they need to take them to the site of the diamond mines.
Despite coming under some criticism for his (actually quite good) African accent, Leonardo DiCaprio delivers a refreshingly evil performance as the cold-hearted diamond smuggler Danny Archer. But it is Djimon Honsou, as the man desperate to find his family, and escape the wrath of the RUF, who has the stand out performance. Vandy goes through a whole checklist of emotions, each resonating with the audience with true conviction and power. You can almost taste the sweat and smell the fear from his mannerisms. But perhaps the star of the show is the director, who specialises in making entertaining pictures out of political issues. Blood Diamond strikes a worthy balance between the thrills and the chin-stroking.