good mix of realism and entertainment!

Rating: 8/10 (31 January 2007)

While the story is about an actual conflict set in 1999 Sierra Leone, this flick can still be categorized as a well paced action movie. The story itself was quite intriguing, none of the protagonists' behavior seemed tacked on. However, I thought that Leonardo di Caprio was a little miscast for this role, I personally had a hard time to buy his cynical soldier role, probably because this is his first film in which he tries to be a biased, if not bad character. Jennifer Connelly is just great, although she looks a little too glamorous throughout the film, even when she is wearing shabby clothes and khaki trousers. The real good thing about this film is that it got me interested in Africa more, I read a book on Civil wars in Africa and its many problems.