Powerful in every way

Rating: 10/10 (9 December 2006)

I have to admit that I am a natural fan of Edward Zwick, particularly with The Last Samurai and Glory. Again, Zwick proves to deliver a very compelling film.
To start off, the film is about an ordinary fisherman named Soloman (Dijmon Houson) who has a perfect family and perfect life in South Africa. It is all disrupted from rebels who raid his village. His family manages to escape (later captured), but he is held captive and is forced to dig in a mine for diamonds. In his time there, he recovers a diamond that he found and hid it away. He is later taken to prison as the mine gets raided by the South African government.
Meanwhile, a South Afican weapons and diamond smuggler named Danny Archer (Leo Dicaprio) makes another one of his deals, but is caught red-handed. As fate has it, both men end up in the same prison. Danny soon learns that Solomon has a diamond and wants it. Both settle a deal: Solomon is to give Danny the diamond, and Danny will get Solomon's family back for him.
The two set off on a dangerous and deadly path of finding this diamond with the help of an eager, stubborn journalist (Jennifer Connoly) to get the diamond and reunite Solomon with his family.
Hands down, this is one of the best films I have seen this year! Everything was simply great. Dicrapio has proved himself again as being a decent actor and Dijmon Houson gives an absolutely powerful and believable performance of a struggling father who would do anything to get his family back. Dijmon is simply magnificent and deserves an Oscar for his performance. Jeniffer Connoly was great as well in her role.
The story was griping and easy to grasp. It was highly emotionally driven, particularly with the philosophy talks of modern-day vents about bloodshed and the problems of the world. Also to note, the scenes of brutal violence left me paralyzed. To add about the violence, the director rubs it in your face and is not afraid to show families and children getting blown away by lead, and people getting tortured, giving an authentic atmosphere of the war driven African continent.
The film-making quality captured all of this from the cinematography, use of sound and music, which was all well done. The pace may have been a little slow in a few parts, but the pace is not to be complained about, for I was captivated by this film.
easily **** out of **** Among this year's best films!