I Am President Of The People That Neither Love Nor Hate Leo Club

I don't know why I don't like DiCaprio. I just find him so.... inadequate. Bland, boring. Like a cousin that comes to your house every now and then and you're forced to spend time with him because he's around your age. Yes, that's Leo alright.
Outside of Catch Me If You Can, I guess I do hate him. Ok, so hate is too strong a word. I know there are a lot of people that claim to hate him simply because his face is pop culture's main representative of Titanic, biggest motion picture of all time and so on. A lot of people like to resent anything that might appeal to a hormonal teenage girl, whatever that thing may be. Titanic + globe of hormonal girls = #1 movie of all time. And those who can't join in the whitewash because of a damned inability to be aroused by Leo as a result of their uncontrollable sexual preference, direct their energies to completely senseless hate. Now, I myself think that Titanic is overrated and is only slightly above the notch of your average blockbuster, but please, if you're going to hate something without cause, at least come up with a lie as to why you hate it.

I love Djamon Hansou. And I lurve Jennifer Connolly. And you know what, from what is sampled in the Blood Diamond trailer, I'm beginning to wonder if Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese's little bitch, may have it in him to impress me yet. I'm thinking Yes.

Blood Diamond is standard action fare dressed up superbly with grit and awesomeness. With a decent plot tenderised into it also. The action looks terrific, the leads as mentioned before, are great and I've really been enjoying Edward Zwick's projects, as he looks to be transitioning from an up-and-comer to an established and industrially known character. Who knows, if he keeps the ball rolling and prolongs his career to include more films that look as good as Blood Diamond, Zwick should be a household name in no time.

This movie should also be seen as a stepping stone towards a brighter direction for DiCaprio, as his Scorsese romps leave his characters with much to be desired for me. They're usually great movies, but helped in no great deal by him at all. Hopefully, he veers away from proceeding with yet another Scorsese movie so he can pull off something completely inspired and fresh. Howard Hughes is a good role to land, I understand that, but the stern no-good money-man in Blood Diamond complete with a nice South African accent is so much more pleasing, aesthetically and otherwise.

What brings all the potential to this movie though is not just the accents. Its the under-glamoured approach. Sure, it's unlikely a woman as beautiful as Jennifer Connolly would happen upon the anti-hero and decide to join him in his quests. If ever that were to happened, she would definately be a fugly, drooped beast with fankles and some sort of skin condition from being too senstive to foreign climates. She would not be Jennifer Connolly, I can tell you that.
Aside from that minor exception, there is a grungy realism here. For example, the title piece, the actual diamond, is not a brilliant shining gem sitting on a stone alter with a shaft of golden light dencending upon it. It's a mangled pebble found in a muddy river bed. And it's this pebble that is responsible for the high octane machine gun fights and a whole village's infrastructure worth of collateral damage. 'tis awesome.


I suppose when Leonardo DiCaprio isn't trying so hard to be a superstar, and is too busy running from cover to cover, dodging hurtling debris, he's not so bad. I still think he's robbing good roles off young guys that could probably embody the parts with more success, but having said that, I can't find much to complain about with this one here. Yet.

Blood Diamond - Warner Bros. Pictures
Anticipation Level: High.
Look out for: There are a lot of great moments. Especially the militia going crazy shooting up the entire town.
US Release date: December 15th, 2006.
Trailer Source