Dec 8, 2006 By Lou Gaul Calkins Media Film Critic 4 min read

During this festive season, jewelry-store ads for diamonds appear more often than photos of the late-night escapades of Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. ‘Tis the season for giving those sparkling gems, and that fact appears to have inspired the producers of “Blood Diamond” to release their brutally violent picture – one that seems more fitting for the action-filled summer period -at the height of the Christmas shopping period.

Though dramatically uneven and uncomfortably long, the 1999-set film delivers some very disturbing facts about “conflict diamonds” (stones found as a result of slave labor) and the importance of avoiding the purchase of such gems, which proves difficult due to the diamond-distribution process.

Director Edward Zwick (“The Last Samurai”) obviously saw “Blood Diamond” as an action epic and a message picture, and with the support of superstar Leonardo DiCaprio (“The Departed”) in the leading role, the filmmaker had the clout to take the material in any direction he desired.

Zwick’ heart is certainly in the right place as he blends factual elements with fictional characters to shed a light on the evils of conflict-diamonds business, but in his zeal to enlighten viewers, the director sometimes stumbles in terms of story telling and characterizations.

That’s especially true in his use of gifted actor Djimon Hounsou (“Gladiator”), who plays a tribal fisherman, Solomon Vandy, whose personal relationships are never explored beyond a surface level. The grieving Vandy is forced into slavery, finds a precious pink diamond, escapes from his captors and then uses the stone, which he hides, as a bargaining chip to be reunited with his family.

Vandy’s family quest anchors “Blood Diamond,” but most attention is lavished upon DiCaprio’s Danny Archer. The 31-year-old ex-mercenary from Zimbabwe peddles arms and gems and figures he has struck gold when he hears about the fisherman’s hidden jewel and knows it can be his ticket out of the war-torn area and into a pampered life.

Archer strikes a deal to help the man recover the stone that’s deep in the territory of enemy rebels who turn young boys into killing machines and chop off limbs of innocent people to spread fear.

Joining their trek is Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly of “A Beautiful Mind”), a magazine writer anxious to expose the British company that supports the conflict-diamond trade. She agrees to help Archer and Vandy pose as journalists to travel through dangerous areas in return for the ex-mercenary providing information about the illicit stone business, which includes stockpiling diamonds to artificially inflate their selling price, and who’s profiting from the death and suffering of innocent people.

Zwick tends to state many points over and over, particularly in the area of the brutality of the rebel and military forces, and neglects to build an undercurrent of drama, though there’s certainly a sense of urgency. Viewers will quickly recognize the horrors caused by conflict stones, but the filmmaker far too often covers the same ground in scenes that could have been shortened or, in some cases, deleted.

The romantic relationship between the characters played by DiCaprio and Connelly never develops, and their scenes together have a jumpy feel, suggesting they were edited to bring the story back to the quest for the pink diamond.

DiCaprio delivers as the icy ex-mercenary designed to balance Hounsou’s fiery husband and father who will do almost anything to reunite his family, including his young son who has been turned into a murderous soldier by rebel forces.

Ultimately, “Blood Diamond” contains brilliant moments, but any chance for cinematic greatness is trampled by Zwick’s sledgehammer approach to delivering an obvious, though important, message.

FILM REVIEW

“Blood Diamond”

Grade: B-

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly; screenplay by Charles Leavitt; produced by Paula Weinstein, Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, Graham King and Gillian Gorfil; directed by Zwick.

Running Time: 140 minutes.

Parental Guide: R rating (extremely strong graphic violence, harsh four-letter profanity.

Web site: blooddiamondmovie.com