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Blood Diamond may be getting publicity for its message, but it is no slow-paced moral drama. It is in fact a very enjoyable action movie that happens to have a point to make. At no point does the film lack action, but in the second half it even starts to resemble a Rambo film, which isn't a criticism because it's really entertaining. Ed Zwick is not known for a gritty style, and here he again directs a very slick and good-looking film. The acting is all good, with Leonardo DiCaprio's Zimbabwean accent surprisingly successful on the whole. Jennifer Connelly, as the token female, is rather superfluous to proceedings but does fine in a rather underdeveloped role (and believe me, she makes the film better just by being on screen). Djimon Hounsou gives another powerful performance. He has become rather typecast in these slave-type roles (as in Amistad, Gladiator, The Four Feathers, even The Island) but he plays them extremely well. I would have liked the character to be a little more than DiCaprio's lackey for much of the film though. The film delivers its anti-conflict diamond message very persuasively, although a few lines of dialogue do come across as slightly preachy. However, as I've already said, the film is mainly concerned with providing generous helpings of explosive action scenes, and they're certainly skilfully orchestrated. The running time is quite long (143 minutes) but I found the film very well paced overall so it never dragged. I'm surprised that it hasn't made more money because it's a very commercial film, which is probably why it was overlooked in the main non-acting categories at the Oscars.
The summary
The story may be a little "Hollywoodised" for some tastes but Blood Diamond is nevertheless a very well made, engrossing and action-packed film.
