Just so we're clear, DiCaprio's character is monstrous

Rating: Null/10 (23 December 2009)

Let's see if we have this right: in order to acquire the diamond, Archer (DiCaprio) orders a bombing raid on a village with innocent slaves (including children). If Connelly's character knew about this, would she have been nearly this friendly to him over the phone at the end? Did the scriptwriters really think this one through?
I suppose we were supposed to sympathize in some way with Archer throughout the film. And I actually did. He seemed like a man who would get his hands dirty in pursuit of his high-risk obsessions. He's crafty, skilled, and smart. And then we get thrown for a loop 90 percent of the way through the film. Then we're left wondering just how and by what Archer is motivated. After ordering his bombing raid, he seems to show compassion towards Hounsou's character, and yet why? He might as well murder him as well and make off with the diamond. He was willing to murder his only son, after all, the son being the only reason Hounsou went with him. Which is worse? And why does Hounsou treat this monster with any compassion afterward? It doesn't make any sense.
Director Edward Zwick pulled this same sort of nonsensical stuff in the climax of _The Last Samurai_, where Cruise's army runs straight to their deaths for no good reason. Zwick appears to be little more than a run-of-the-mill Hollywood director ruined by the system, producing cheap thrills irrespective of the importance of underlying substance. Go back and look how it's in pretty much every film he's made.