Blood Diamond
Thursday, July 3, 2008
“Freedom.”
This was one of those movies I wasn’t sure I wanted to see. It’s long at over 2 hours and 20 minutes… it’s a drama, and from the previews it looked like it was on the ‘gut-wrenching’ side… but I love Djimon Hounsou and I hadn’t seen Leo DiCaprio in anything in a while [and let's face it, he's a cutie]. I was actually surprised at how quickly I was hooked into the story and the characters, and along for the ride. Despite the subject matter, it wasn’t too tough to watch and it was very well done from the story, to production down to the acting. I loved every minute.
Blood Diamond takes place in Sierra Leone in the late 1990s and is the story of Solomon Vandy [Hounsou], and Danny Archer [DiCaprio] – both men are from Africa, but from very different backgrounds. Solomon is a Mende fisherman who’s village is sacked by rebels and is kidnapped to work in the diamond fields, shattering his dreams of his son becoming a doctor some day. Archer is a ex-mercenary from Zimbabwe with incredible survival instincts, in jail for smuggling. When Archer finds out Solomon found a very large, pink diamond and hid it before the rebels could get it, he offers to get Solomon out of jail and help him find his family in exchange for the diamond – the ultimate ticket to freedom for both men. Aided by an American journalist [Jennifer Connelly], they go on an incredible journey through rebel territory during a time a civil war.
For the depth of the characters, the suspenseful story and terrific acting, this movie is a solid 4 out of 5 and definitely worth watching if you haven’t seen it yet. Leo DiCaprio’s South African accent wasn’t too awful either… [if you read my reviews regularly, you know that's a peeve of mine]. It did come and go, but it wasn’t bad. ;)
Add’l Info: Released: Dec 8, 2006 • Runtime: 143 minutes • Rated R for strong violence and language
