Sunday, December 02, 2007

As if you care about ... Blood Diamond


I've been thinking about doing more reviews of films I watch here, so consider this an experiment in that vein.

Blood Diamond was quite good, much better than I thought it would be when I initially saw it advertised. It was billed then as mostly action flick, and while there was plenty of action, it's really about the conflict it's set in. It joins Hotel Rwanda and Black Hawk Down as eye-opening, dramatic, and interesting films about the plight of Africans and Africa. Maybe Beyond Borders, Tears of the Sun, and The Last King of Scotland are in that category too, but I haven't seen them yet.

DiCaprio does pretty well with a South African accent, and I've always liked Jennifer Connelly (even though her performance is a little flat here). As with everything I've seen him in, though, the real standout here is Djimon Hounsou. He and DiCaprio received Oscar nominations for their roles, and its easy to see why.

Anyway, this one is recommended. Four out of five stars.

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