Blood Diamond (2006)

An almost nauseatingly Hollywood take on the whole Africa Thing. Dicaprio does a decent job in his role, while Jennifer Conneley just exists, and Djimon Hounsou alternates between a pitch-perfect performance and hilarious overacting. For everything this tries to say about the origins of wealth and how unscrupulous an organization or two can be, it feels too safely produced. There is a boldness and outrage that a subject like this demands, and at no point did the film manage to successfully take it on. The sad truth of this picture is that you come out knowing all the most heinous parts are true, and that even the most atrocious bits in the movie are probably a sanitized portrayal of the real situation. Too bad the movie as a whole isn't better.

6 out of 10.