Zwick does it Again

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2008)

After years of watching his films, I have finally discovered that Edward Zwick is one of my all-time favorite directors - and a talented writer and producer as well. Check out his resume and be blown away: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001880/
In Blood Diamond, Zwick takes a very talented primary cast (Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connolly) and puts them through the meat-grinder of post-colonial African politics, smuggling and murderous revolution. While simultaneously giving us the redemption story Zwick has previously done so well (Last Samurai, Good Will Hunting, etc), cultural study and a bit of tastefully done romance.
DiCaprio plays a tragically nihilistic diamond smuggler; Hounsou plays someone who might, under other circumstances, have been one of his victims; and Connolly plays a liberal American reporter whose ex boyfriends refer to her as a crisis junkie. All three get caught up in a bloody and senseless revolution against an equally corrupt government- Both sides support an exploitive diamond-smuggling trade.
Hounsou, dragged away from his family during a rebel raid, finds a diamond of rare quality and size while working as a slave to the revolution. DiCaprio needs the stone to pay back a debt and get out of Africa, and Connolly wants to tell the story.
The film blends action, strong emotion, and a sense of place with a rare sensitivity. It ranks among Zwick's several great films, but did not sustain my interest quite as well as some of his work. Visually lovely, painfully well-acted, and never exploitative of an easily and often-exploited subject matter, Blood Diamond is a great example of excellent mainstream Hollywood film-making.
Highly recommended. A+