Blood Diamond is set in the early 1990s and Sierra Leone is in the chaos of a civil war

Director: Edward Zwick
Main Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly, Arnold Vosloo, Michael Sheen

Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller and Crime/Gangster
Plot:
Blood Diamond is set in the early 1990s and Sierra Leone is in the chaos of a civil war. Solomon Vandy(Djimon Hounsou), a Mende fisherman, and his family become victims in the brutality that is going on and the once peaceful man waits for his opportunity to get back with his family. In the chaos he comes across a large pink diamond but this discovery is not a secret for long. He soon crosses path with a cold-hearted white South African diamond smuggler, Danny Archer(Leonardo DiCaprio), who promises to help Vandy find his family for a share in the stone.
"I know white people," says Danny. "You're just another black man."
They will need the help of an ambitious American journalist Maddy Bowen(Jennifer Connelly) ready to expose the illegal transactions in the multi billion international diamond industry.

Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly and Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond.

The three embark on a common journey with three different goals.
Review:
I usually avoid Leonardo DiCaprio movies. Of the few movies I have watched him in, I have not found his roles very believable. But I did want to see Djimon Hounsou in action and with the Emboozi stamp of approval I had great expectations for the movie.
Blood Diamond does not waste time to get the movie started. There is a good reason for this. The movie cleverly addresses so many issues rampant in Africa. From refugees, civil war, child soldiers, smuggling, illegal arms trade, foreign opportunists... the movie manages to address it all. The movie could have easily taken place in Kampala in January 1986 or maybe present day Northern Uganda.

Blood Diamond.

This is a great movie from beginning to end. The scenes are very real
and there is no attempt to sugar coat anything. All those who had lived through coups will feel like they are reliving events in their past. Okay there are little bits of Hollywood here and there but this is kept to a minimum and can be forgiven.

Aline Kangabuka and Jennifer Connelly in Blood Diamond.

Hounsou and DiCaprio are very believable in there roles. No wonder they were nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor at the recent Oscars. Hounsou digs out the African in him for his role while DiCaprio does a very good job in pulling off a South African accent without sounding stupid. He does not sound like the usual DiCaprio and you are easily able to hate his manipulative character.

Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond.

By the way did any one notice the Ugandan who played a relatively significant role in the movie? It was Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, labelled as "Africa's mega film star in the making".

Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine.