BLOOD DIAMOND — ** — Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly; rated R (violence, gore, profanity, vulgarity, brief drugs, brief nudity, racial epithets).
The inconsistent accent Leonardo DiCaprio sports as a South African character may be the most irritating thing about "Blood Diamond," but it's not the film's most unconvincing aspect. The makers of this adventure-drama seem to be more concerned with trying to prove a point about human-rights abuse in Africa than in telling a story.
At more than two hours, "Blood Diamond" is also much too long for its own good — particularly with its multiple closing codas and, at times, it's crushingly heavy-handed. All of which detract from some decent performances by a talented cast.
DiCaprio stars as Danny Archer, a former soldier-turned-diamond smuggler, who is operating in Sierra Leone. He's recently run afoul of the authorities and has been jailed, which is how he hears of a rare pink diamond that was discovered and then hidden by a local fisherman.
The fisherman in question is Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou, from "In America"), who was forced by rebels to become a diamond miner and who has also been jailed. He is freed because of Danny, but Solomon is more concerned with finding his missing family than digging up the diamond. He especially wants to locate his son, Dia (Kagiso Kuypers), who may have been forced into service as a child soldier for rebel forces.
There's plenty of material here, but director Ed Zwick and screenwriter Charles Leavitt can't resist throwing in an obligatory love interest for Danny, an American journalist named Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly). This formulaic subplot adds little to the film.
"Blood Diamond" also has the same bothersome and somewhat patronizing quality that marred Zwick's last film, "The Last Samurai." And it keeps repeating the same points over and over again.
Still, the cast does what it can to convince us of the story's veracity. Accent aside, DiCaprio is solid, though his performance pales in comparison to Hounsou's full-blooded turn as a desperate father.
"Blood Diamond" is rated R for strong action violence (shootings, stabbings and lashings, as well as explosive mayhem, vehicular violence and violence against women), some graphic gore, strong sexual language (both profanity and crude slang terms), brief drug content (hypodermic injections), brief glimpses of veiled nudity (as well as nude photos), and use of racial epithets. Running time: 138 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com