Bloody Leo...

I developed an intense dislike for Leonardo Dicaprio after I saw Titanic. I couldn't watch him in any other role without picturing him yelling "I am the king of the world!" (This isn't his fault in any way, of course, and I recently read that the Titanic frenzy made him a little nauseous, too.) So it wasn't my idea to go see Blood Diamond. I sighed and rolled my eyes and then told my friend that I'd go but only because no one else would go with her. It turns out that she was doing me a favour by allowing me to discover an amazing film.

Danny Archer, played by Dicaprio, is a Rhodesian mercenary who is looking to make enough money to get out of Africa. While spending a night in jail Archer encounters Solomon Vandy, played by Djimon Honsou, a man who was forced to work in a rebel run diamond mine after his village was attacked. He gets free of the rebels during a government raid, but has been separated from his wife and children. He desperately wants to find them and Archer desperately wants a rare pink diamond that he believes Vandy can lead him to. Jennifer Connelly rounds out the trio of main characters as Maddy Bowen, an American journalist who wants to blow the illegal diamond trade wide open. She has the contacts and resources to find Vandy's family and Vandy will not help Archer unless he knows his family is safe.

The worst thing I can say about this film is that it was a bit long for me. It had some beautiful scenes and a lot of excitement, but two and a half hours is just too much.

Djimon Honsou was absolutely amazing. His Oscar nomination is well deserved and I hope he wins. Leonardo Dicaprio was good, partially because Honsou's intensity was a match for his own, and partially because he excels at playing characters who are morally ambiguous. Both men turned in great performances, but Jennifer Connelly didn't really add anything to the film. Her character seemed more like a plot device than anything else.

The relationship between Archer and Vandy is what really makes this movie worth watching. The two men are looking for the same thing, but for reasons on opposite ends of the moral scale. Somehow they manage to work together, but the results aren't what either one of them was expecting. *cue dramatic music*

Michelle