My post will more than likely contain spoilers so you've been warned
And it will be incredibally long..so once again, heed the warning!
The movie started off a bit slowly and the directing was really hit or miss with me for the first 10 minutes or so. My sister is a screenwriter (not professional yet...but she will be) and I know a thing or two about what a good screenplay contains and I definitely know what a screenplay should not contain. The first 10 minutes or so of the movie was a bit slow and also the flashes between the committee and what was going on in Soloman's (Djimon) village and Danny's (Leo) storyline was just not well done. It was too jarring and it contained way too much exposition/dialogue--I also understand that for a movie like this it's necessary--but it was boring to watch at times.
Finally the story picks up with Djimon finding his diamond and getting hauled off to prison (As well as Leo). The pacing finally evens out and becomes interesting to watch.
I think Jennifer Connelly was wasted in this movie. Her character doesn't do a whole lot, besides make googly eyes at Leo, especially for the first hour of the film. She finally starts to get a nice character arch and then bam she has her good-bye with Leo and just is gone.
The real relationship everyone should be interested in is the one developing between Danny and Soloman. It has a nice arc that is realistic and has a few twists and turns.
Some scenes that really stood out to me (Good and Bad):
1. The scene with Danny and the baboon. Danny's anger/frustration at being so close to the diamond and then nearly having it all be ruined by Soloman was so intense. His monologue was fantastic and would be enough for me to give Leo an Oscar nomination.
2. I really liked the scene with Danny/Maddy (was her name Maddy?) when he talks about God. I enjoyed the scene that was until they had to ruin it by having her grab his hand. I think the scene worked better without that little bit added in. I guess it was in to keep the female audience in their seats for the movie--making googly eyes at Leo from their respective theatres--but to me it just wasn't necessary.
3. The action scenes were all really well directed--especially the final action sequence when Danny is running to get Dia.
4. Speaking of Dia---The scene where Danny is screaming at Soloman to tell them where the diamond was, was nicely done as well. Danny was trying to stay so calm and then just flipped out. I was actually happy to see the more evil Danny come out when he offered up Soloman's son as a form of black-mail. The movie of course, had to turn around two seconds later and say "No, just kidding, It's Leo everyone--he's a good guy" and ruin the moment.
and lastly...
5. The scene where Soloman and Danny fight and Danny draws his gun on him. The acting by both actors was insanely good.
Now onto the respective actors:
Leonardo Dicaprio: Wowzers, he's pretty talented.
He did a great job of showing off the charming side of his character and the side that is so incredibally desperate to get off the continent. He had this underlying fear that was just below the border of his emotional character that would just come out in crazy bursts and he would suddenly realize what he was doing and try to maintain his cool all over again. He was deliciously evil and deceptive for about 3/4 of the movie and I loved it. I was half hoping that he was tricking Soloman and Dia and was actually going to take off on the plane and leave them there instead. Not because I'm a horrible person--but it would have been kinda nice (and would have been a nice change of pace from other movies) to watch a character that was that malipulative and had absolutely no moral/ethical characteristics. I have no idea about the South African accent--to me he was pretty consistent..now was he consistent with a good accent or a bad accent, I have no idea--I do not know anyone personally from that part of the world.
Djimon Hounson: Leo describes him as being the soul of the movie. He really is. He's the soul, the pumping heart that makes you actually care about what happens. You want him to wind up with his family--you want Leo to be nice to him. You just simply want to see him succeed. His amount of talent blew me away. His primal screams to find his son really get down into your bones. His naivity was frustrating at times as a viewer but you could understand why he was the way that he was. The only downside to his character is that he's too nice. In a country like that, surrounded by everything that is going on--he should be more angry. He should be more frustrated. But I suppose if it's all you know and have ever seen--you become nearly jaded.
Jennifer Connelly: I posted before about her. She had decent chemistry with Leo and her eyes are insane! But her talent as well as her character was a bit wasted.
The ending:
Heavy spoilers so stop reading if you don't want to know the ending!!
Oh lordy, the ending. This is where my screenwriting knowledge comes into play. This ending was so contrived and cheesy (for lack of a better word). Thank god they had the actors that they had. With Danny's conversation with Maddy on the phone--it may have been sweet, and finally honest but it was beyond corny ("I'm right where I belong"). I loved the visuals of his blood mixing with the dirt--but because of the previous scene where they talk about the red dirt--you knew the moment was coming and it tarnished the emotional impact of the ending.
Soloman talking at the Kimberly meeting and the standing ovation was a bit over the top and is not something normally recommended for screenplays--but because of Djimon it doesn't make you want to throw up from having to sit through such a corny moment.
Overall:
A pretty decent movie. I love that it's an action movie that will get some people in the theatre to learn about something so important and yet will still entertain.
I wish I had known some of these things before. I've always been interested in Africa and movies about Africa (Hotel Rwanda is my favorite) and I'm a huge fan of Leo's and that's really what piqued my interest. I think if the script was tightened up a bit this movie could have been Oscar material---but like I said before, because of the acting in this movie--it's elevated from mediocre to something I would recommend others to see--and it's something the Academy will take notice of and I think Djimon and possibly Leo could get much deserved nominations.
And now to anyone who actually read this entire thing...I applaud you!
I enjoyed reading your thoughts and am pretty much in complete agreement.