Blood Diamond (2006)

Premise: During the civil war in Sierra Leone, Solomon Vendy (Djimon Hounsou) is separated from his family and taken to work in the mines. He finds a massive diamond and manages to hide it from his captors. Smuggler Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) wants the diamond in exchange for helping Solomon find his family. Journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) wants Danny's story and agrees to help Solomon in the process.

Well, that was horrifying. At the beginning, there was a brief second that my mind flitted back to a comment I read a few years back as to whether there is a such a thing as a "genocide genre," but it didn't last. The movie is shockingly yet un-gratitously violent, and it's difficult to think of much else while you are watching it. To be honest, given the sheer weight of Hounsou's performance, it's nigh impossible to process any thoughts at all.

Although there is a certain paint by numbers quality to Charles Leavitt's screenplay, it's also terrifying and uplifting and ballsy. He's a writer not afraid to call his characters out on their flaws, and he's willing to push them. Perhaps his best quality as a writer, however, is his reluctance to push them too far. Too often we see characters in these do-or-die situations, with road block heaped upon outrage and yet always ready to overcome. Here the characterizations are much more mild as well as complex. Well, maybe not all of them.

There's a single-mindedness to Solomon that I am tempted to label one-dimensionality, but Hounsou embraces the role with such ferocity that I admit I cannot. Hounsou plays him as a man constantly at the tipping point, but he has the strength of mind to always bring himself back from the brink. It is an award-worthy performance and provides the film's moral centre.

DiCaprio shines as a materialist with minimal possessions. Arhcer's development is predetermined, but DiCaprio gives it such a natural feel that you can forget your misgivings. There isn't a moment were his opportunist isn't renegotiating, and he lets all that conflict show. As for the accent, it's a little odd for the first few minutes (bear in mind that it's supposed to be South African by way of Rhodesia), but you get used to it and even get to enjoy it.

Ah, Connelly. I'm starting to like you. It was nice that you could show Maddy's feelings without resorting to tears, and your lovely opaque irises demonstrate a formidable resilience in a time of crisis.

I should just come out and tell you that I love director Edward Zwick. I love the TV shows he produces, anyway. The movies he directs tend to be long and all work along the same idea, but they have an earthy, humanist quality to them that is difficult to ignore much less dislike. He takes odd casting choices and brings out a sublime quality to the performances.

Props to James Newton Howard for his hearty and dramatic score. There were a few moments that were a tad clichéd but none of them too much. Actually, that's the movie in a nutshell. A-