Over-acted, over-preachy, overwrought, underwhelming

Rating: 5/10 (22 March 2007)

The last few years have produced quite a few films about the seemingly intractable plight of the African continent: "Black Hawk Down", "Hotel Rwanda", "The Interpreter", and "The Last King of Scotland" rank among the best. "Blood Diamond" ranks among the worst.
The film is bookended by Stephen Collins as a noble American ambassador trying to end the sale of diamonds from combat zones. In between, there is a stale action-movie plot with preachy dialog and over-acting that redefines scenery-chewing.
Leonardo DiCaprio is Danny Archer, a cynical smuggler/mercenary trying to make enough money from Sierra Leone's civil war in the 1990's so that he can leave for Europe of America. Djimon Honsou is Solomon, a sympathetic everyman with a loving wife and family. When the rebels--commanded by Captain Poison (David Harewood in full melodrama-villain mode)--come to his town, they enslave him to pan for diamonds in the river. Right when he finds a really big diamond, government troops raid the camp and take everyone prisoner. During their night in jail together, Danny overhears about Solomon's find & spends the rest of the movie trying to get Solomon to dig it up and give it to him. Meanwhile Captain Poison kidnaps Solomon's son Dia and tries to mold him into a rebel soldier.
For sex appeal, we have Jennifer Connely as Maddy, a noble American journalist. She and Danny are supposed to have some kind of attraction; but instead of having sex, kissing, or even flirting, they just bicker about the state of post-colonial Africa, and she keeps preaching at him about the diamond trade, his profession and his cynicism.
Director Ed Zwick has made other sermon-films such as "Glory" and "The Last Samurai". "Glory" succeeded because it was a true story. "The Last Samurai" succeeded because the anti-imperialist message fit neatly within the plot and didn't seem forced. In "Blood Diamond", I can even imagine Bono thinking "enough already" during one of Stephen Collins' or Jennifer Connelly's monologues.
As to DiCaprio's and Honsou's Oscar nominations: DiCaprio was deserving this year, but for "The Departed", not this film. In this one, he completely hams it up, especially toward the end. I can only imagine the Academy was impressed by the fact that not once does he slip into an American accent, and that he has finally figured out how to trim his beard so it's not dorky-looking. Why Honsou was nominated remains a mystery to me. He is a fine actor and has had far superior roles in the past; but he was nominated for them, so this is hardly a case of the Academy trying to right past wrongs. In this film--I kid you not--he shouts, goes bug-eyed and drools during the action sequences.
Africa's problems are a fascinating and worthy subject for Hollywood to deal with, especially since the rest of the world has cast a blind eye for far too long. But "Blood Diamond" will not change anyone's minds or alter their buying habits. Instead of being like "Three Kings"--which refused to be predictable in combining Hollywood action and a socially conscious message--it is more like "The Day After Tomorrow"--which used the worst Hollywood action clichés in an unsuccessful attempt to try and preach at us. 5 out of 10