Action thriller with a heart

Rating: 8/10 (2 December 2006)

While the inclusion of heart throb, Leonardo DiCaprio, may attract a few teenage girls to Warners' "Blood Diamond," this is by no means an insignificant or shallow film.
DiCaprio plays Danny Archer, a native of Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) who smuggles diamonds out of Seirra Leone (where there is a civil war) into Liberia (where there is not); from there the gems are exported to various parts of the world.
These are called "conflict" or "blood" diamonds, because of the violent way in which they are obtained. One example of this violence is what happens to Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou, "Amastad"), whose village is overrun by rebels.
His family escapes, but he is captured and put to work in a diamond camp. There he discovers a huge gem worth a fortune. He hides it, but is spotted by a cruel militia leader; but government troops attack and keep both from the precious stone.
In prison, Archer finds out about the diamond, and in exchange for tracking down Vandy's family, the men team up to go back and dig up the stone.
This leads to a series of exciting escapes and brushes with both government soldiers and rebel militia, as well as an introduction to American journalist, Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connolly, "A Beautiful Mind"), who helps in many of these escapades.
Meanwhile, Vandy's only son is being cruelly indoctrinated into the rebel cause and against his family; while DiCaprio is being pursued by South African soldiers of fortune, led by the Colonel (Arnold Vosloo, who played High Priest Imhotep in "The Mummy").
I don't know about year-end awards, but I would be very, very surprised if DiCaprio (whose South African accent grows on you, unlike Rob Morrow's annoying Boston drawl in "Quiz Show") and Hounsou did not earn Academy Award nominations.
There may be another few nods for Connolly, director Edward Zwick (who should have been at least nominated for "Glory" in 1989) and maybe even best picture. The story has a heart, the action is exhilarating and the acting top notch; truly one of the best films of 2006.