Set in 1999, Djimon Hounsou
stars as Solomon – a kindhearted father in Sierre Leone, who
dreams of his son
growing up to be a doctor. The
country
is in the midst of a civil war, and Solomon’s entire life and
family are ripped
apart when rebel guerilla forces invade his village, kidnap him and
make him a
slave mining for diamonds that are sold to fund the purchase of weapons. One day, he finds a rare,
pink diamond, and
tries to hide it as government forces sweep in and arrest everyone. Soon, Solomon finds
himself in jail with a
horrible rebel who saw him hide the diamond, and a notorious diamond
trafficker, Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), who sees this rare
diamond as his
chance to strike it big and get out of Africa.
Can Solomon trust Danny to
share in the profits and help Solomon get his wife and kids back? What are Danny’s
true intentions? Can
they make it through this war torn
country to get the diamond back?
Blood Diamond is a fantastic
movie thanks to good old reliable action, a little bit of preaching
(okay, alot
of preaching), and two awesome actors who are the best of their
generation. Director
Ed Zwick and writer
Charles Leavitt have some traditional elements in this story that will
feel
familiar like the two guys from different worlds who are forced to work
together for a mutual goal, a greedy profiteer working for his own
interest as
the larger war rages on around him and the honest guy who desperately
tries to
keep his family together even though the forces around him seem too big
to
overcome. However,
it all works.
Zwick and Leavitt have
created a movie that is exciting, dangerous, and draws your attention
like very
few out there. While
it may seem a
little bit too long, the movie flies by as you get drawn deeper and
deeper into
every plot twist, and start to care about Solomon’s quest,
just like Archer
might be. Underneath
all of the
explosions, gun shots and helicopters, Blood Diamond is a human story. We become aware of this
because of DiCaprio
and Hounsou.
DiCaprio is just outright
awesome as the morally and ethically challenged trafficker. He is smart enough to keep
the audience
wondering right up until the end as to Archer’s true
intentions and whether or
not he is going to cut out Solomon at a moment’s notice. As always, DiCaprio brings
amazing intensity,
even some charm when needed, and makes you forget about the Afrikaner
accent
within minutes as you get wrapped up in what he is saying and doing,
rather
than how he is saying it.
Just as good as DiCaprio,
Hounsou
also is outright awesome as our earnest hero.
The audience is compelled to feel sympathy for
Solomon as he is ripped
away from his family because Hounsou makes you feel that pain and
sorrow the
man is going through as the place he loves and the people he loves all
get torn
apart. Then, he
shows you the man’s
dedication and refusal to believe his family is lost forever, even when
we are
convinced it is too late.
While we get some whining
from a gung ho war correspondent, Maddy (Jennifer Connolly), about not
covering
“real” news, and the movie goes too long past the
natural climax to put in a
whole bunch of stuff about supposedly evil diamond companies, Blood Diamond
mostly is a stunning movie that stands with the best of the year.
3
½ Waffles (Out
Of 4)
Blood
Diamond is rated R for strong violence and language.
Copyright
2006 - WaffleMovies.com
