Somehow, Blood Diamonds slipped past me in 2006. My brother lent me a copy of the movie so I finally had a chance to watch it. The movie is set in Sierra Leone in the late 1990s when civil war made the country a killing ground. Into this hellish chaos appears Leonardo DiCaprio who plays a diamond smuggler, Jennifer Connelly plays a feisty and intrepid journalist, and Djimon Hounsou plays a victim of the civil war. The title refers to diamonds mined in African war zones and sold to finance the conflicts. Psychopathic warlords train children to become murderous soldiers. Djimon Hounsou’s character discovers a rare “pink” diamond that DiCaprio covets. Jennifer Connelly’s character wants to expose the blood diamond jewelery companies that work with the warlords. After you watch this film, you’ll never want to visit Africa. GRADE: B-
I must admit I let this one slip by too – as your write-up points out, there was somethign just a bit too pat and diagrammatic about the characters and the plot for me.
Sergio, there’s not one unpredictable moment in BLOOD DIAMONDS. And Leonardo DiCapro glowers a bit too much.
I think it slipped by a lot of us. Hey, I got my new big screen TV so I will be watching more movies at home. It has a lighting issue we have to resolve but other than that. Comcast ended up rewiring our entire house so it was worth the $60 they charged.
Patti, I hope you have a Blu-ray player with that new Big Screen HDTV!
I guess I’m the only one who saw this (on HBO or Showtime) a few years ago. It was an okay time filler and I liked Leo’s accent but it was pretty forgettable. And no, I will not be going to Africa.
Nice one, Patti. Enjoy!
Jeff, the scenes of carnage were enough to put Africa on my personal DO NOT FLY list.
Africa was already on my no-go list, George. I would have loved to see parts of Egypt if I could see it as it – and the country – was in 1950 or so, but no more. I wouldn’t go to ANY country in Africa or the Middle East. Actually, I’m very content to stay in the U.S. and Canada.
As for the movie, I remember the trailers on TV back then, but figured I’d see it on Netflix if the reviews were any good, which they weren’t. So it never made the queue. The topic – diamonds financing war – was a real one at the time, though, and probably still is. One of the war lords just turned himself in.
I’m with you on travel locations, Rick: U.S.A. and Canada. That’s it. I did a trip to Europe and England and came away unimpressed. Asia holds no interest to me (overcrowded and polluted) and the Middle East is flat-out scary. South America is making kidnapping tourists a growth industry.
There are places we’ve visited that I’m glad we’ve seen – London, Edinburgh, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Florence – but we are definitely sticking to North America for the foreseeable future too.
Jeff, there are too many risks in travel outside the USA today. I leave all the foreign travel to Patrick and his friends.
I never had any desire to visit Africa. Too many diseases and headhunters, and I want modern plumbing where I travel.
Oddly enough, I did see this movie at work during one of our many slack periods. It was okay, IMHO, but I don’t need to see it again.
Bob, I’m with you on BLOOD DIAMONDS: I don’t need to see it ever again.