Blood Diamond Review

Blood Diamond is a story based around the turmoil of Africa’s Sierra Leone. Solomon Vandy, played by Djimon Hounsou, and Danny Archer played by Leonardo DiCaprio, both play African men from different backgrounds. Archer who is a South African mercenary gets put in prison for diamond smuggling, while Vandy is in prison for being part of the rebel clan. While in prison Archer learns that Vandy has discovered a rare diamond and has hidden it, and Archer further learns that Vandy's family has been taken away from him. Archer clearly understands that a rare diamond fetches a specatcular price and decides to "help" Vandy get his family back but only for his own personal agenda.

Blood Diamond finally made fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, as he showed some real, solid acting ability throughout the film. Blood Diamond marks a real evolution of DiCaprio as an actor as we have now seen him grow from his days of playing a runaway child on the TV show Growing Pains to Danny Archer in Blood Diamond. Clearly his recent perfomances have showed a natural and believability appeal that makes him stand out from any other A list actors.

Now,in contrast to my feelings on DiCaprio, I’ve always been a fan of Djimon Hounsou. Housou has a strong presence in whatever role he is playing. Remember him in Amistad and Gladiator? Blood Diamond likely marks Hounsou's best performance. He was so determined and driven to find his family that one was left feeling as those Hounsou himself lived the same experience. I know that it’s supposed to be the job of the actor to be convincing but Hounsou's performance in Blood Diamond is a whole different ballgame. Jennifer Connelly plays American journalist Maddy Bowen, and though her character is not quite as in depth as Archer and Vandy, her role was still important. What I liked the most about the Maddy Bown character, was that as a writer she reminds the audience of the simple and elegant power of words and the tremendous difference they can make.

I sincerely enjoyed this film and would definitely either be buying the DVD or watching it in the theatre again. If you don’t already know about Sierra Leone this film may leaving you wanting to know more. Not only was the acting in this film incredible, what left me most impressed was the films role in potentially raising awareness concerning Sierra Leone. I can only hope that I’ve done this film justice with my own words and hopefully convinced you to see it.

Story A+
Acting A+
Visuals A+
Originality A+
Enjoyability A+
Overall Grade A+