Blood Diamond

First off, I bow down to the thespian magnificence that is Djimon Hounsou. He absolutely earned the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in this movie, mining the dignity, desperation, despair and naivety of a father whose young son has been swallowed by the "revolutionary armies" --- almost all children dragged away from their families and seduced by the easy pleasures of drugs, women and the power of the gun --- of sub-Saharan Africa.

For Abbott and Costello, Africa screamed. Ever since, it has cried ... for reasons which are well laid out in this movie, which explores one aspect of the rape of Africa against the backdrop of the late-1990s civil war in Sierra Leone, which was always more about the diamond fields than it was about political power.

Well-shot (should get at least an Oscar nom for cinematography), well written and incredibly well-acted --- especially by the always-hot Jennifer Connelly in what could have been a throwaway role.

And now, I'm going to do something distasteful. In the past, Leonardo DiCaprio has always suffered from Tom Cruise syndrome -- that is, no matter what the role onscreen, you always knew you were watching Leonardo DiCaprio act. Not so as the lead antihero of Blood Diamond; DiCaprio grew some facial hair to disguise his chin, picked up the tan of a lifelong white African and mastered a South African accent for this role. Nailed this role. Just absolutely nailed it. At the very least, DiCaprio should be getting a nomination for Best Actor for his work in Blood Diamond. Maybe he should even win the damn Oscar. (Ugh. Thank the gods that's over.)

You should see this movie.

 

Wow... DyePack restraint?

 

This sounds familiar.

 

What happened to the original thread?

 

I figured out a way to remove one ignorant reply (the only one at the time) without being elevated to moderator status. ;D

Great movie. The only reason it was the second-best thing I watched last night is because I watched the shuttle launch from a boat.

 

DiCaprio was impressive in The Aviator, I thought, and I've wanted to see this one since I saw the first trailer for it a few months ago.

 

2much, DyePack's original dumbass reply (surprise surprise) aside, thanks for the review. I had mixed feelings about seeing this, because I'm not sure I can handle DiCaprio's accent for 2+ hours. ... But perhaps I'll try it.

 

Thus bringing up the question: Who is the bigger fool -- the fool, or the fool who follows him?

 

When I've seen the trailers, Leo's accent sounds just horrible. I'm not sure I can get over that.

 

Thank you, Obi Wan.

 

It's actually pretty good, DBV. Just takes a few minutes to get used to, since we're accustomed to Leo being, well, Leo. It's particularly interesting when he breaks into a dialect with an African warlord (?), it's sort of a rasta-sounding thing, and not at all hokey.

 

I'll actually go with C. The fool who gets off on the attention he gets for being obstinate on a message board.