Film: Blood Diamond

Topical thriller about the chase for a simple, yet very valuable, diamond. But this is no Pink Panther; Blood Diamond is dark, violent and purposefully to the point.

Set in the troubled Sierra Leone of the 90's, the film has a relatively shallow plot. There are no twists or turns or headache-inducing storylines, and is all the better for it. Instead, it concentrated on providing themes and messages, although at times it did all become a bit too patronising.

The acting was fairly good - Blood Diamond is by far my favourite Jennifer Connelly film since Labyrinth. Djimon Hounsou was his typical serious and tormented self, and Leonardo DiCaprio, while playing a fantastic anti-hero, may have had a slightly flawed South African accent (eh).

Direction was also more than adequate and the script was particularly smooth. Some of the action set pieces were brilliant, again in a simple way, although other scenes were a bit irrelevant (and I think that the film could have been 15-20 minutes shorter).

There's a sad ending that'd make even the most cold hearted viewer weep (but not me, of course), but there are plenty of lessons to be taken away from the film too; not just the obvious ones regarding conflict diamonds or child soldiers, but more abstract ones about how the little we can each do can still be something worth doing.

Much recommended.