Blood Diamond

Return to the Main Page

Summary:
Solomon was taken from his family by African refugees to work the diamond fields. He finds a super-huge rock and goes to jail. Danny Archer's a renouned diamond smuggler who catches wind of Solomon's discovery, and together they go on a quest to retrieve the diamond, and Solomon's family.

Review:
I have to start right off the bat in saying that for 138 minutes, a hell of a lot of side shit goes on that's unimportant to the story itself. It should have been more about Solomon, with Danny being the supporting element to Solomon's story. Instead, it throws in an American reporter who tries to get the story of the century "to make a difference", meanwhile attempting to bring a love story into the mix. Then, Solomon's son Dia is the representation of the horrors of children with guns. I was beaten over the head with the atrocities of brainwashing young minds to become heartless killers. Is there any chance of retribution for these poor souls? If that's not enough time-wasting filler fluff for the benefit of exploiting the horrors that lie in the curruption of Africa, there's also the originally intended plot of the movie itself... blood diamonds. Diamonds that are illegally harvested and smuggled into another country where it can be 'laundered' and sold to big diamond companies.
Blood Diamond's biggest flaw is in its attempt to present a score of issues, losing itself in muddled subplots and heavy-handed sob stories. If they were willing to completely remove Jennifer Connelly's role as the American reporter, and didn't try so hard to gain sympathy to the viewers by way of giving kids guns and shooting people all the time, we would have removed 40 minutes of the movie and had a much tighter, more involving viewing experience.

As far as DiCaprio is concerned, DiCaprio was, well... not that convincing. He's supposed to be a badass mercenary; a top-of-the-line soldier of fortune. One look at his scruffy facial hair and slight pot belly gives me the idea that he's actually an out-of-the-job ex-Merc who drinks himself into a stupor and is down on his luck. Out of shape, and out of the game.
Jennifer Connelly was also underpar from what I would expect of her. I wouldn't say she's a knockout actress by any right, but when she has her moments in the movie where she can really shine, she falls desperately short of the mark. Especially in her speech in which she tells DiCaprio how her reporting always amounts to the same sob story, but she hasn't found a story that will change anything in the country, because no one wants to fess up to reporters as a key witness/reliable source. It was like watching a bad episode of General Hospital when she makes this speech. WEAK!
Djimon Hounsou did the best in his part. I felt he really was a concerned father and husband. However, his character does painfully stupid shit, and I would have understood Danny if he just decided to slit the dude's throat out there in the jungle without hesitation.

Blood Diamond is watchable fair, but fair is all it is. It tries to be an adventure as well as a drama, with plenty of efforts at bringing a message to us about the atrocities of Africa, and how YOU can make a difference by not buying from dealers who invest in blood diamonds. Gimme a break, man. It should have been a movie that didn't try to inspire us to make a change, but be a fun adventure story about the quest for riches beyond your wildest dreams. I recommend it as a rental if anything. Where you can fast forward a lot of the stupid parts.

GRADE: C

Reviewed: 12/17/06