PLOT: In Africa, a white diamond smuggler and a black fisherman chase a diamond each man hopes will change his life.
Blood Diamond is a schizophrenic mix of adventure and social hectoring. It's a good time at the movies nonetheless but it should have been great.
The events in Blood Diamond concern the fact that gems mined in Africa sometimes come with a violent history. Diamonds have been used to finance civil wars, for example, and on a smaller scale there's plenty of ordinary, every-day horror involved in the treatment of the miners.
This is not the sort of thing that's emphasized when you and your beloved are being artfully manipulated into buying a diamond engagement ring. Mr. and Mrs. American Consumer have yet to really make the connection between their sparkly fantasies and death in Africa, and that suits the diamond industry just fine.
Blood Diamond conveys all that sort of information but often in a smug and preachy fashion and, worse yet, almost seems to suggest such issues are mostly in the past.
The story is set in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. It unfolds around the lives of two men, one a black fisherman who has been torn from his family in a bloody rebel conflict, the other a white smuggler.
As the diamond smuggler, Leonardo DiCaprio shoulders the thankless role of Amoral White Usurper in the film; Djimon Hounsou is the Oppressed But Dignified Black Man who just wants his wife and children back. Hounsou's character knows the whereabouts of a huge diamond, and DiCaprio partners with him to retrieve the gem and split the proceeds. DiCaprio promises to help Hounsou get his family back, too; as DiCaprio's character is a cheat, a liar, a thief and a killer, there's a touch of tension around this partnership.
Blood Diamond has fantastic, heart-pounding adventure scenes that play out against the majestic landscapes of Africa. The film might remind you of a sweeping epic of the 1930s or '40s, with action and emotion writ large across the screen. Indeed, when she turns up in the role of the jaded reporter/love interest, Jennifer Connelly seems to be channelling Rosalind Russell in a hardened dame performance that cries out for big shoulder pads and red lipstick.
And who wrote that dialogue?
Never mind. Blood Diamond has so much going on in the way of corrupt leaders and killer child soldiers -- and shooting and betrayal and fear and loathing -- that you'd almost not notice the big flaws. Almost. A bit of current events dressed up as an old-fashioned tale of redemption, Blood Diamond works because of the performance from DiCaprio, which is stunning. Talk about rising about the material.
This is a great watch, and too bad about the heavy-handed delivery of a pretty simple message. Which is: Only buy Canadian diamonds. That was easy.
BOTTOM LINE: This is a great watch, and too bad about the heavy-handed delivery of a pretty simple message. Which is: Only buy Canadian diamonds. That was easy.
(This film is rated 14-A)
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