Film Review: Blood Diamond, English, 150 words.
Rating (out of 5 stars) * *
An issue-based thriller with a weak story, Blood Diamond is almost good. Mind you, no more.
A white diamond smuggler (DiCaprio) and an innocent black fisherman (Hounsou) join reluctantly together - with opposing moral and psychological motivations – in civil war-ravaged Sierra Leone (late 90’s Africa). They are on a violent crusade to find a pink diamond in a race against death and warring government and rebel troops that covet it too. The background is unethical international gem trade, terrible reality of child-soldiers and slave labour in a poor, brutally ravaged continent.
The film boasts of above par action sequences and a remarkable performance from Leonardo DiCaprio. But the screenplay is an over-done advocate for your conscience. Good first half, heavy second. Thanks to the disappointing stereotype of a sermonizing American journalist (an attractive but wasted Jennifer Connelly) helping the smuggler find nobility in the midst of moral chaos.
