Blood Diamond
2-Disc Special EditionTrailer Blood Diamond is another movie that I've been putting off for a long time. I'm glad I finally got around to checking this out.
Blood Diamond is basically two different movies in one. The first half, although good, felt more like a political thriller trying to say something about the plight of those forced to work in Diamond mines and how the profiteering has destroyed the people and their country. But the second half of the movie is where it really kicks in when it suddenly morphs into an action film. Anchoring both halves of the movie are
Leonardo DiCaprio as
Danny Archer and
Djimon Hounsou as
Solomon Vandy.
What keeps the movie moving along is in how
Leo's character is portrayed to the viewer. At first we see that he is an opportunist and a middle man that smuggles the diamonds out of Africa for a profit. But we can also see that there is some good in him and when he meets
Jennifer Connolly's character of
Maddy Bowen, a journalist, he finally decides to 'do the right thing' by helping
Solomon find his son and bring light to the problem plaguing the country. This is where the movie could have become a cliche by having
Leo's character all heroic, fighting the good fight and being firm in that role. But they don't. It's fantastic writing that keeps the audience guessing what
Leo will do in the end. He may have some good in him and he may have in fact decided to "help"
Solomon. But the closer they get to the
Pink Diamond, the more greed starts to pull on him, making him extremely dangerous. It's kind of like watching
Gollum and his obsession with the
Ring.
The last 10 minutes of the movie I found to be very good and eye opening, not just for the viewer but for
Solomon. I liked that they had
Solomon finally see the power that diamonds in general can wield. To have him see first hand where the diamonds end up at (in a store window display) and see the influence it can exert (reuniting him with his lost family) was a nice touch in showing both sides of the story, rather than just being one-sided.
Leo was fantastic in this one as was
Jennifer. But it was
Djimon that stole every scene and the movie in my eyes. He was amazing. It is no wonder that both were nominated for
Best Actor and
Best Supporting Actor respectfully. I highly recommend this as a
Rent.
Edward Zwick did a great job putting the movie together.