I like a good horror-slash-political-slash-educational film. Nothing short of going to war-torn countries and seeing the carnage yourself could have as much impact as a good film or book about what's been going on. Blood Diamond follows the tradition of the most moving of these films (Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan being the most obvious) by closely following the life of an Everyman who, we come to realize, could have just as easily been us.
Blood Diamond wasn't a great movie, even if it was full of incredibly poignant moments. Previews with Leondardo DiCaprio's affected accent had made me skeptical, but he put on a great performance, and the main character, Solomon Vandy (played by Djimon Hounsou), was likeable if one-dimensional. But character is where the movie failed: every one was a cliche except for Leonardo DiCaprio, whose story played out in a very predictable way. (Don't even get me started on his love interest.) Sure, sympathetic journalist Jennifer Connelly had the added interest of being a tough gal, but it was hard to see why she was in the story at all. Additional details about Vandy's life could have added much more vitality to the film than Connelly's serene face; all we got to see were a few domestic scenes and him being wide-eyed and innocent through the rest of the movie.
Blood Diamond failed to be complex where it needed to be; it seemed as though the movie's makers wanted to simplify the situation for us, unsure that we'd be able to understand without a white American woman showing us the way. They took out the details in order to make the story more relatable, making it dull and predictable when it should have been moving and surprising.
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