TIA ... This is Africa

Rating: 7/10 (3 December 2006)

Greetings again from the darkness. Edward Zwick has spent the past 8 years concentrating mostly on producing with the exception of the ultra-Hollywood "The Last Samurai". Zwick has a strong resume that includes "Legends of the Fall", "Glory" and "About Last Night". With "Blood Diamond" we get a very intense and interesting story that falls short of being great due to the Hollywood slickness applied.
Leonardo DiCaprio follows up his Oscar-worthy performance in "The Departed" with a wonderful portrayal of a diamond smuggler in South Africa. For his character, Archer, the film is his last shot at salvation and it results in self-discovery and soul redemption thanks to his "partnership" with Djimon Hounsou (so great in "In America" and "Gladiator") and his connection to an American journalist played by the beautiful Jennifer Connelly. Connelly is the main misstep in the film because we just can't buy her as the "in the thick of the action" type. Her character supposedly jumps from one world crisis to the next, but she comes across much more as the day spa treatment girl. Hounsou, on the other hand, is so real it frightened me at times. No one plays the angry man on a mission better than he.
Much talk will be made of DiCaprio's accent, but it is pretty solid most of the time and only fades out in a few scenes. His accent should not make or break the film for anyone, as it is a terrific story with amazing scenery and a great deal of intensity throughout the two and a half hour running time. I may have never seen a movie with more people gunned down ... especially innocent villagers. It is a moving story based on the reality of the diamond importing business.