Blood Diamond
As a rule I am very wary of what’s being referred to more and more as “message films”. There’s sort of a pompous air when the name is given to a film as if to smugly say “They’re really making a difference.” Unfortunately, I’m of the opinion that for the most part “message films” don’t exist, because the moment your message overwhelms your story it ceases to be drama and becomes propaganda and once that happens you’ve failed. However, if you can tell a good story out of tragedy then you’ve succeeded. Take for example, The Constant Gardner. I am one of the few that didn’t particularly care for this film. It seemed so pleased with trying to be important that the story suffered for it. There are some definite similarities between that film and this one, however the differenceis where The Constant Gardner fails, Blood Diamond succeeds.
While locked up for smuggling Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) comes across Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) who has been accused of being part of the resistance in the Sierra Leone’s civil war in the1990’s. Solomon has in fact been taken from his family as a slave by the resistance and forced to work in the diamond fields. When Archer discovers that he found a rare pink diamond he convinces Solomon to lead him to it in exchange for reuniting him with his family. They fight their way across a country that’s falling apart and eventually have to rely on the aid of Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an idealistic American journalist. With her help and more importantly her credentials they are able to slip their way through rebel territory to find the things that they want most, family and a way out.
There are certain actors that you don’t you don’t see enough of and Djimon Hounsou is one of them. A lot of the time he isn’t used to the best of his ability, but any time you see him it’s going to be a good performance. This is no exception. If he doesn’t win the Academy Award for best supporting actor, something is wrong. I typically don’t go for the flashy overly emotional type of performance, but this can’t be denied. DiCaprio also gives one of the best performances of his career, granted it’s his second best of the year, but still one of his best yet. With Blood Diamond and The Departed under his belt he will get some recognition, but it shouldn’t be this one he gets awards for.
The one thing that really hurts this film is the romance between DiCaprio and Connelly. It feels tacked on for the sole purpose of making his character seem a likable. The unfortunate thing is that Archer isn’t remotely likable. He’s an arms smuggler who doesn’t care about anyone other than himself and the fact that he’s helping Solomon is really just a means to an end. I would have liked him to have been more like William Holden’s character in Stalag 17, where he does what he has to survive and only helps someone else if it helps himself. This completely unfounded and instantaneous romance sticks out pretty badly and not only ruins his character, but makes a good film out of what could have been a great one.
The Grade
- Story: B
- Acting: A
- Visuals: A-
- Originality: B+
- Enjoyability: B+
- Overall: B+
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