I haven't watched the Departed or Mel Gibson's Apocalypto, but Blood Diamond has been my best movie catch so far in 2006. It is a thrilling movie, but since the filmmakers want to be responsible and informative, sometimes it seems lengthy. It has a high level of violence, but still it doesn't unveil it all, just mentioning the extremes, but not explicitly showing it; for example when Danny Archer (DiCaprio) tells Maddy Brown (Connelly) about his own tragedy that how his mother was raped and killed and his father was decapitated by Zimbabwean freedom fighters, in his land, Rhodesia.
Both Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly have excellent performances in this movie, although Jennifer Connelly is way too beautiful to be a journalist traveling to the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, or rebel-controlled Liberia, or Bosnia. I think her character in the story could be expanded more. Here, one of the weaknesses of the story is how suddenly Maddy Brown falls in love with Archer.
The writers have assumed a high level of responsibility, to not sacrifice their message just for more thrilling. Sometimes the movie seems to be so direct-pointing as in a documentary about the blood diamonds. I think this movie, however, has been effective enough that the next time when someone wants to buy a diamond ring to think twice and probably ask if it is not from Sierra Leon or Liberia.
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