Blood Diamond film review

Review

Cast & crew

Blood Diamond

(2006)

A mercenary Zimbabwean diamond smuggler might seem a stretch for the once impossibly baby-faced Leonardo DiCaprio, but this thought-provoking action thriller offers a superb showcase for his growing talents, despite an occasional lapse into Hollywood sentiment. For a time it seems the film will be as good as DiCaprio, starting with the surprisingly savage opening scenes of a tiny fishing community being torn apart by guerrillas in war-torn Sierra Leone in the 1990s. A wonderfully low-key Djimon Hounsou plays survivor Solomon Vandy, whose discovery of a rare and priceless stone while working in the diamond fields attracts the attention of chancer Danny Archer (DiCaprio). Archer agrees to help Vandy find the family from which he was taken in return for recovering the diamond from its hiding place and, along with a crusading journalist (an effective Jennifer Connelly), they set off on the perilous quest. Unfortunately, it's here that the provocative, uncomfortable film turns into a predictable and disappointing morality tale that does a sad disservice to its impeccable players. DW

Contains violence, swearing.

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Running time

143min

Country of origin

US / S Afr

Genre

Action Thriller

Original language

English

Screenplay

Charles Leavitt, from a story by Leavitt, C Gaby Mitchell

Theatrical distributor

Warner Bros

UK cinema certificate

UK cinema release date

January 2007




awards information


	Award	Category	Name	Nominee/Winner

	Academy 2006	Actor in a Leading Role	Leonardo DiCaprio	Nominee
	Academy 2006	Actor in a Supporting Role	Djimon Hounsou	Nominee
	Golden Globe 2006	Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Drama	Leonardo DiCaprio	Nominee