Touching but not memorable

Rating: 6/10 (16 December 2006)

I was apprehensive about this movie considering the ambivalent critic response and the huge outpouring of African tragedies that have come out in the last year (The Constant Gardner, The Last King of Scotland etc.) My reaction after was: Alright...could have waited until DVD.
The story is about the illicit diamond trade in Sierra Leone. Blood Diamond's strong point is showing a beautiful country (sadly, not actually filmed in Sierra Leone) torn apart by a horrific civil war. Neither the rebels nor the government are portrayed in a favorable light, and the characters are just trying to survive in the crossfire.
Portraying an African-born white diamond trader, Leonardo DiCaprio does a credible job with a believable accent. However, every once in awhile he became "Leo" instead of Archer (I didn't feel that way about him in the Departed). Hounsou is compelling as a fisherman trying to find his son.
The romance between Connelly and DiCaprio seems to have been heavily edited out or should never have been there in the first place. Their story works better as strangers using each other and eventually coming to an uneasy understanding. Not a deeply felt love/attachment.
In the second half, the movie focuses on the characters and their goals instead of the civil war at large. At this point, I was tempted to check my cellphone for the time. While the movie was compelling depicting the actual events of the civil war, I never really cared about the fates of the individual characters.
I believe its valuable and necessary to learn about Sierra Leone's recent civil war. However, this movie itself was average.