"Leo Scores Twice In One Year - One Of The Years Best"

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2007)

Archer is a diamond smuggler who is thrown in jail after being caught on a routine smuggle. Solomon is a fisherman who is captured by guerrillas and is forced to mining diamonds. Solomon comes across a rare diamond and decides to hide it. A raid occurs and the 'RUF' and the diamond miners are thrown in jail. This is where Archer and Solomon meet and where the word about the diamond being buried is let loose.
Blood Diamond is the second film to feature Leonardo DiCaprio in the year 2006. The other was 'The Departed' and both films found their way to the Oscars, with Leo's performance in Diamond going up for Best Actor. While I personally believe the stronger performance was in The Departed, Blood Diamond still is an awakening to the viewer and not only send out a message, but entertains its audience at the same time. Not many films can do this, but Diamond executes it very well.
Zwick's previous film was 'The Last Samurai' with Tom Cruise. That film was good, but it left me with an awkward feeling. Everything was good until it's bogus ending, in which Tom Cruise, the one American, is the only person who survives the onslaught at the film's climax. All emotion is basically stripped at the end. With Diamond, Zwick learns from his mistakes in Samurai and is actually able to convey some emotion in this film. With a depressing story being told, Zwick needed actors who were able to translate this emotion, he found them in DiCaprio and Hounsou.
Both actors received critical acclaim for their performances and rightfully so. Hounsou captures the screen with every minute he graces it. Playing a man who is tripped away from his family and then learns his son is captured and turned into a soldier is demanding, but Hounsou depicts everything perfectly, even stealing some scenes away from DiCaprio. DiCaprio scored big with 'The Departed' and here is smacks another one out of the park. Before the film came out all I heard were negative things about him in this film, most people nitpicking on his accent. Truth be told, it's pitch perfect and is consistent all throughout the film. DiCaprio is intense and believable all throughout and deserves his Oscar nomination, even if it is for the wrong film.
Blood Diamond feels like two films, one wants to entertain the audience with it's thrilling action scenes and gun battles galore; while the other feels the need to beat us over the head with the message that we may have blood on our hands. While the film does a fairly good job at balancing the two, at times it's just blatantly obvious that the one outweighs the other. By the way, it's the message and not the action. Through dialogue and actions from the characters might as well just turn to the screen and tell us that "This is bad".
Straight from the start you know how real and brutal the film is going to be. It's relentless with it's killings, most notably on the village raid in the opening scenes, tying in with the message that the film is trying to get out there. On a technical aspect the film is beautiful, from the desert grounds to the green forests. The art direction and cinematography are both breathtaking and add to the overall authentic experience this film offers.
Blood Diamond, is a film that delivers what it promises. It delivers its message when it needs to and the action when it needs too, only in a few instances it faults. With great performances and beautifully filmed scenes, it's no surprise that Blood Diamond is one of the years best films. Although it could have been a little shorter, clocking in at 2 hours and 15 minutes. The film tends to drag in the final 20 minutes. I can recommend Blood Diamond, it will most certainly entertain.