Blood Diamond

[Highly rated reviewer]

Most Over-Rated Film of the Year

So many gushing reviews, such an important subject, and what a godawful movie.

As others have remarked, Leo - whatever his acting skill, and whatever the accent - is completely miscast as a battle-hardened African mercenary. And Jennifer Connelly is every bit as unconvincing and out of place playing a tough magazine journalist.

The script is pure Hollywood. We've seen the structure a thousand times before. When Leo portentously says, 'This is Eff-rica,' early in the film, we all know we're going to hear that line again. And when Arnold Vosloo scoops up a handful of dirt and waxes poetic, you can hear the pay-off coming even with the sound turned down.

And this film is looooonng. When Leo and the Noble Savage start their journey into the heart of Sierra Leone, it feels like it's being shot in real time.

There are some positives. The big-buget pyrotechnics are cool (Hollywood does that sh*t well). And David Harewood leaves nothing behind as the psycho rebel leader.

But however worthy the subject matter, this a predictable and over-praised piece of Tinseltown pap.

Watch this film !

Great film. Top performances all round, and Di Caprio has certainly grown up in this one. Intense, sometimes uncomfortable scenes that hammer home the brutality of the situation and particularly the use of child soldiers, without resorting to gratuitous gore. The pace maintains throughout - one of the best recently made thrillers and one that should be on everyone's 'must see' list.