Attention-grabbing, if somewhat flawed movie.

Rating: 7/10 (31 May 2009)

If nothing else, this film does a good job in bringing to light the controversy over "conflic diamonds", which I've not seen anywhere else. The story takes place during a violent revolution in Sierra Leone where the male child of a fisherman is conscripted into a sadistic army funded by diamonds sold for weapons. Djimon Hounsou, whom you may recognize from other films, plays Solomon Vandy whose family is terrorized in early scenes, and then broken apart by these revolutionaries. His only hope is that he knows the location of an enormous diamond big enough to get all the right (white) people involved that may help him track down his son and defeat those who have taken him. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Danny Archer, a white African diamond smuggler/soldier of fortune kind of guy who really, really wants this diamond and knows he has to keep Solomon safe in order for him to show him where it is buried. Along the way, the two befriend a female journalist (Connelly) who is more interested in the plight of the masses displaced by the violence. Each of these three need and use each other when it suits them best. The action is often intense, and the carnage is jarring, to say the least.
The film has many strengths. It does get the viewer involved in the struggles of this part of Africa, and it does make you care about the personal plight of these characters. DiCaprio is pretty much hit and miss in terms of acting. Though his performance is not spectacular, I did buy his character a bit more than I expected to. Hounsou is much more believable, and Connelly often comes off as window dressing. The film relies maybe a bit more on action than it needs to. And one may think the white leads are here only for box office fuel. The film was kind of a bomb in theaters, but it did garner some Oscar nominations for DiCaprio and Hounsou. The photography is very lush and makes one lament what a beautiful place Africa would be without all of the carnage and human problems that seem endless.
Go ahead and give this film a try. It will keep your interest throughout, and if nothing else it may make you think twice about where pretty diamond jewelry comes from. 7 of 10 stars.
The Hound.