Jus' got bock from Blood Diamon', mon...

Believe it or not, it's the same exact plotline as this weekend's other big action release, Apocalypto. Yeah, yeah -- it takes a different continent as the setting and a different commodity as the McGuffin, but dammmn!

However, the previously dependable director Zwick, who made the superb Last Samurai goes and makes a couple of bad decisions. First, he's not happy with the aforementioned plot, nope -- he's gotta go mash in the whole plot of The Departed, too. And second, perhaps less forgiveable, he makes Jennifer Connelly play against character - she plays not-cute which for a woman like her is an acting triumph! My suspension of disbelief sagged when I was asked to buy her as a print(!) reporter. I coulda gone with, say, an ambitious PBS documentary producer, but print -- C'mon! Zwicky, Zwicky, Zwicky - I notice you didn't take a screenplay credit on this particular project. (But, no matter, bring on The Lions of Al-Rassan!)

But, I don't want to give the impression I didn't enjoy El Zwicko's ride, flawed as it may be. Nope. I really liked this big goofy melodramatic thriller. DiCaprio and Hounsou are ultra-tremendous, as expected. The underlying plot, once it casts of its extended and unnatural writhings, runs lean and true to it's improbable finish.

4 out of 5.

I think BD is the best film of the year so far.

Poop Diamond.

One of the worst movies of the year. A crowded category.

I went after hearing from my father and my brother that it was the best movie of the year. They loved the shit out of it. But the movie I saw was dumb, dumb, dumb. I'm getting mad just just thinking about it. My dad told me I was 'disowned.'

I think rather than all the goofy side-plots and inappropriate action, the movie could have simply consisted of Jennifer Connelly wagging her finger at the audience against a black backdrop for two and a half hours. It would have basically been the same movie. And, if she was topless, you'd triple (quadruple?) the opening weekend right there.

You don't like much, do you?

Sure I do! But not Blood Diamond. Never Blood Diamond.

Really good movie, if too long. That seems to be the consensus this year, Superman, Casino Royale, Blood Diamond, Apocolypto, all the good movies are very good, but at times could have had a sharper edit.

The leads are great, and the morals and themes are really just awe inspiring. The Subplots with the kids were really powerful I thought. The ending was a little dramatized, but that doesnt stop it from being one of the more exciting films of the year.

It reminded me a lot of Lord of War, with a different premise, and a little higher pedigree.

Really excellent film. Fantastic performance from DiCaprio, Hounsou and Connelly, with Leo's performance deserving of an Oscar, IMO. The only complaint I had was the length of the film; it dragged in random spots. But otherwise, quite good. B+

I thought Blood Diamond was very good and enjoyed the acting perfs. The story does kind of beat you over the head with how diamonds are bad and people don't about what happens elsewhere and africa's always a mess but I think it's acceptable albeit annoying toward the end. The clapping and standing O at the end was kind of over the top schmaltzy. I thought the story and characters were well done and interesting. They really paint a very true and realistic portrait of sierra leone for that period. The needless violence of the day and child soldiers just punches you in the gut at times at how senseless the actions of some people can be. Overall, I liked BD very much and it's one of Dicaprio's best works. I'm also at a toss up whether I liked his perf in this or Departed more.

A solid movie with great performances by DiCaprio, Hounsou, and Connelly. I really don't know which performance from DiCaprio I like better...probably The Departed still, but it's very very close.

B

B-

The film dragged on for far too long. Especially the last quarter of the film. Enjoyable performances, however Zewick should of gone with something more subtle.

Connelly is in strong form. Never mind DiCaprio.

Saw this today and I have to say it was surprisingly good - thankfully much better than Last Samurai.

I thought the fact it brought to light some of the many indescretions of the Diamond Industry and the terrible attrocities commited in Africa (which sadly is the forgotten continent) instantly gave it credibility for me. The performances were brilliant as you would expect. DiCaprio can do no wrong and good to see Connelly in this type of role again. She also is looking great again. Honsou is also building up quite the resume and was very good here. It was a bit too long overall - but with such a great ending and strong message - I'll have to give this a solid Grade: A

And DiCaprio nails the accent! Love some of his one liners, especially the one about being kissed

just saw blood diamond, first impression was wow great movie then i thought about it more, how contrived it was and idk how i feel now, still at least a solid B if not B+ but maybe it wasn't as great as i was hoping it would be

You're just too unpredictable. I guess it needed more transexuals.

I totally respect where you are coming from.

... But I still think it was a B movie.

I wish The Siege would have been more provocative. It had the potential to be brilliant.

B-

Typical African-based thriller. Could've done without a lot of cliches, including the sentimental ending, which I kind of could predict from the very beginning, and prayed that they wouldn't go that route when so many movies have before. I mean, the phone call, the dirt... come on guys.

[spoil]If they needed to kill Leo, I think it would've been surprisingly non-typical if they killed him quickly, kind of like in The Departed. Like, have them running, and bang... Leo's on the ground dead. Or, just don't kill him, have him live and have those 'wife and kids' with Connelly, change his life for the better, become someone. I was just disappointed with the exact same death scene that has plagued so many movies before it.[/spoil]

The action scenes were a bit in your face and brash, I thought they could've been handled better. The son and his father relationship was again fairly sentimental and common for what you would find in a movie like this, other than maybe some messages about diamond conflict, most of what is treaded here is pretty average actually. I also thought that sometimes it feels like the movie isn't really going anywhere, the first hour in particular was a long wait for the plot to begin.

What saved the movie is some decent character work, and great acting. I liked how everyone in the film was onto their own agenda, they were all thinking about their own purpose, none of the 3 leads got any short-hands in that area... It was refreshing to see some depth like that, when in most movies it seems there's the pretty girl just tagging along just to help, Connely's character in other films would've been in there for the sole purpose of starting a romance with Leo... Here she was given a role to work with. Leo nails this performance, with this and The Departed, wow what a year for him. Launched himself to be one of my favorite actors all of a sudden. Best male performance of the year that I've seen, though Forest/O'Toole are still coming up. Djimon is yelling and screaming a lot, but I also thought he was very solid. Connelly gets much more screentime and as mentioned much more importance and care than I expected coming in, and she does very well. The "It's all I can fucking do" monologue is one of the better female scenes of the year.

So overall... average cliched thriller, great performances. Not sure how it got so much Oscar love.

The best film of the year in my opinion.

A+

Hey, I must be psychic, cause that's exactly what she plays in Little Children!

Just like The Last Samurai, Edward Zwick's previous pciture, Blood Diamond is another redemption tale set in a foreign land. Although this time around, Zwick is also taking stabs at the diamond industry (conflict diamonds are bad!!). Anyway, just like TLS, BL looks like an epic, sounds like an epic, but doesn't feel like one. I was very entertained, but I wasn't emotionally connected to any character whatsoever. I felt the whole thing had a lukewarm "been there, done that" feeling to it. The main story is similar to the Last Samurai, The child soldier thing was handled better in City of God, and the "USA/Europe are exploiting Africa" subplot was much more effective in The Constant Gardener (coincidently, the last 2 films are directed by the same guy).


The action was pretty good, and the score was amazing. All the leads give solid performances, although I thought DiCaprio was far better in The Departed. And it was amazing seeing Jennifer Connelly smiling, something she hadn't done since probably the last 5 minutes of A Beautiful Mind

Overall, I thought Lord of War was a better "important message" film. A minor disappointment. 7/10.

Blood Diamond is a very well done action with a very good message..

I simply got what i wanted from that movie.. I was highly entertained and I found it very touching..

so it gets an A from me


Hi Salem

One of the best movies of last year. The movie was a bit slow every now and then but that didn't bothered me. The story was really interesting and DiCaprio gave one hell of a performance. A-

I feel the same way...nicely said.

BLOOD DIAMOND - 8/10 (A-)

A great, well-made, and important movie. My only complaint is that it's overlong and because of it I wouldn't want to watch it again. The performances from the main players were great though. Even Leonardo DiCaprio, who looked awful in the previews (due to the accent), was great. I was also impressed by Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly. I loved Connelly in it and was very charmed by her performance and loved her character.

Most of the film is very good, depicting the grim reality of Africa with great cinematography and sound effects, but like The Last Samurai (which didn't age well at all for me), Zwick just couldn't help himself at the end and strived too much for sentimentality again. And that one preachy line of "it's up to us consumers to make sure the diamonds are conflict-free" is simply awful; show the facts, state your idea and feeling through the events in the movie, but don't spill it out like that. I personally believe DiCaprio gave the better of his two performances here. Not as impressed by Hounsou since he was basically just yelling and running the whole way. Still overall recommended as it dealt with an important subject and produced a fine result.

B+/B

2nd best film of 06

A

I do agree that it felt a little cheesy and preachy in the end.