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"BLOOD DIAMOND" (2006) (Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Heavy Heavy Extreme Heavy Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate None Extreme *None Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Moderate Extreme Heavy Heavy Extreme QUICK TAKE: Dramatic thriller: A drug smuggler teams up with an African fisherman to find a rare diamond that both hope will answer their respective wants and needs. PLOT: It's 1999 and African Danny Archer (LEONARDO DiCAPRIO) is a former mercenary turned diamond smuggler who knows all of the angles and right people -- such as Colonel Coetzee (ARNOLD VOSLOO) -- to get the stones from Sierra Leone to his main company buyer back in London, Van de Kamp. While he's aware of the rebels in the RUF (Revolutionary United Front) using slave labor as well as young boys as soldiers in their efforts to find the diamonds that they'll turn around and sell for additional weaponry, he's only looking out for himself and views them as collateral damage. That is, until he teams up with local fisherman Solomon Vandy (DJIMON HOUNSOU) whose village was overrun by rebels who then enslaved him and displaced his family, including wife Jassie (BENU MABHENA) and son Dia (CARUSO KUYPERS). When both men end up in jail for different reasons, Danny overhears that Solomon reportedly found a large, rare, and thus valuable diamond. Sensing that could be his ticket off the continent and realizing Solomon needs it to help locate his family, Danny proposes an offer the father can't refuse -- take Danny to the diamond and he'll help Solomon reunite with his wife and kids. Of course, little does either realize that rebel leader Captain Poison (DAVID HAREWOOD) has taken Dia under his wing and brainwashed him into being one of his young soldiers. As the two disparate men become unlikely partners, Danny enlists the aide of American photojournalist Maddy Bowen (JENNIFER CONNELLY), an idealistic but realistic reporter who thrives on danger and wants to nail the people at the top of what's called the "blood diamond" trade. But she needs names, and Danny offers to help her only if she assists him. With the three agreeing to deliver what the others need, they set off to find the stone, all while dealing with various obstacles and predicaments in their way, including Poison and his rebel forces. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Fans of anyone in the cast may be interested, as might older teens. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For strong violence and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: LEONARDO DiCAPRIO plays a former mercenary turned diamond smuggler who sees his way out with Solomon's reported rare diamond find. He works the angles and manipulates everything and everyone to try to get the stone, and kills various people along the way. He also uses strong profanity, drinks, and smokes a lot. DJIMON HOUNSOU plays a village fisherman whose life is turned upside down when rebel forces attack his village, force him into slavery, and turn into son into a young rebel. Reluctantly joining forces with Danny, his only goal is to save his boy and the rest of their family. JENNIFER CONNELLY plays a photojournalist who thrives on the danger of her profession but wants to make a difference, and needs Danny to do that. She uses profanity and drinks some. CARUSO KUYPERS plays Solomon's young son who's kidnapped by the rebels and then brainwashed by Captain Poison into become one of them, a cold-blooded killer. ARNOLD VOSLOO plays the military colonel who trained Danny and is employed by the government of Sierra Leone to deal with the rebels. BENU MABHENA plays Solomon's wife who worries about him and their son. DAVID HAREWOOD plays a rebel leader who brainwashes Dia into becoming one of them. He kills people and smokes. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a quick look at the content found in this R-rated dramatic thriller. Profanity consists of at least 16 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also heard. Some sexually related dialogue is present (including a hooker coming on to a man), and a man stands nude in front of others in jail to prove he isn't smuggling anything (he's in the shadows so nothing explicit is seen). Violence consists of people being killed by various means (mostly gunfire), a boy's arm is cut off as a signal to others, and various gun battles (including some with missiles and other explosives) also take place. There are bloody results from that, while those scenes and other moments of peril might be unsettling or suspenseful to viewers. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes (including enslaving people and brainwashing kids to be young killers), while some drink and/or smoke (the latter to excess with one), and a man injects a boy with what's presumably some sort of drug. Some behavior may be enticing for some kids to imitate, while a man worries about his family after they're displaced during a rebel attack and when his boy is repeatedly threatened with injury or death. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, there's some brief flicker from a fire. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there's some handheld camerawork from time to time in the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Danny drinks liquor from a bottle so that he can pull out a tooth with a knife, but we then see it was hollowed out to smuggle a diamond inside it. Danny has a beer in a bar as does Maddy and others. He then asks her if she wants another and they then have more. Miscellaneous people drink in a bar where Danny drinks a shot and has a beer. When Danny says they should go back to her place and see what's in the mini-bar, Maddy replies that she drank it. Captain Poison gives some sort of drug injection to Dia (we see his eyes roll back), while other kids are seen drinking. Danny and another man drink beer. Danny drinks palm wine, Maddy tries some and adversely reacts to the taste, but then has more as they share it. Danny has Maddy pour palm wine on a man's gunshot wound (we don't see the hole). Danny gathers supplies, including a bottle of whiskey. Rebels drink beer. Solomon drinks from a bottle of whiskey while chatting with Danny who also has some. BLOOD/GORE As rebels drive up in several vehicles, Solomon and his son take off running. The rebels then storm the village, shooting various people dead (among the shooters are young boys), some with slightly bloody results. Captain Poison has a boy held down and then part of his arm cut off (we only see a little blood, but do briefly see the stump and severed limb). A soldier finds an incision mark on a goat's back, cuts open the skin (we don't see the cutting), and then holds a handful of somewhat bloody diamonds. Solomon finds a rare, large diamond and tries to smuggle it away, first by holding it by his toes in the water, and then acting as if he has to go to the bathroom and going off into the woods. Captain Poison has some blood on his face after a grenade explodes near him. Later, he has a bad scar across his permanently closed eye. We see some blood on Dia's bare chest. Some blood splats onto a wall as a person is shot and killed. After that, we see many dead bodies on the street as well as overall chaos as the young rebels have taken over the city. We see various dead bodies strung up by their feet, while a truck drags another one behind it on the street. We see dead and bloody people on a road, while a gun battle takes place by them, resulting in more wounded people including a bloody child that Solomon tries to get on the journalists' bus. We see one kid carving letters into his arm with a razor blade (with bloody results). We see dead people hanging by their necks and feet. Maddy has a slight dried cut on her arm. Maddy has a man's blood on her hand after he's been shot. Danny talks of killing baboons in the past for food, and we see the motion and hear the sounds of him cutting something with a knife. His hands and arms are then bloody and he then drops a dead monkey down in front of Solomon (for food, but we don't see them eat it). We see dead villagers on the ground. There's blood when a man is shot in the body and then again. We see blood on Danny's hand after he reaches to touch a gunshot wound (which we later see as a bloody hole in his side). Blood drips down from Danny's hand to the soil into which Danny mixes that blood. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Danny is a diamond smuggler who will do most anything to get the job done. When he learns of Solomon's hidden diamond, he then tries to use him and others to get to it for his own means. Those in the blood diamond industry obviously have bad attitudes. The rebels who kill people, enslave adults as diamond diggers, and brainwash young boys into their fold obviously have bad attitudes. Captain Poison has a boy held down and then part of his arm cut off (we only see a little blood). Solomon is then held down to suffer the same fate, but Captain Poison spares him that and instead enslaves him as a diamond sifter. One slave tries to smuggle a diamond in his mouth, but Captain Poison catches and shoots that man dead. Colonel Coetzee is a foreign military man hired by the government to deal with the rebels (for pay). Danny saying he wondered if God could forgive them for what they've done to each other in Africa, and that he then looked around and realized "God left this place a long time ago" (some viewers might not like that thought). FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" and "Blood/Gore" may be unsettling or suspenseful to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. As rebels drive up in several vehicles, Solomon and his son take off running. The rebels then storm the village, shooting various people dead (among the shooters are young boys), some with slightly bloody results. Solomon then runs and hacks through the back of his hut with a machete to try to rescue his wife and children, but as they get away, he's tackled by several who hold him to the ground, including with a hand to his throat. Captain Poison has a boy held down and then part of his arm cut off (we only see a little blood, but do briefly see the stump and severed limb). Solomon is then held down to suffer the same fate, but Captain Poison spares him that and instead enslaves him as a diamond digger. One slave tries to smuggle a diamond in his mouth, but Captain Poison catches and shoots that man dead. As Danny lands, rebel forces aim their guns at him and continue to do so as he confidently strides off to find their leader. Solomon finds a rare, large diamond and tries to smuggle it away, first by holding it by his toes in the water, and then acting as if he has to go to the bathroom. He then attempts to bury it, but Captain Poison catches him in the act and holds a gun on him. Just then, government troops attack the rebels with machine guns and grenades, killing many of them (and an explosion hits Captain Poison, wounding him). Solomon then crawls away and buries the diamond just as government troops arrest him at gunpoint. Danny drinks liquor from a bottle so that he can pull out a tooth with a knife, but we then see it was hollowed out to smuggle a diamond inside it. Dia is blindfolded, given a machine gun, and told to shoot it, unaware that a man has been put into the line of fire, resulting in his death (and Dia is shocked by this). Machine guns are fired at people fleeing in a city, including Danny and Solomon. Various people are hit, as are buildings and cars, some of which explode from that as well as what appear to be Molotov cocktails. During this, a person is tossed out of a second story, but we don't see the impact below. Government soldiers then shoot many people running their way, followed by a big gun battle. Various rockets are fired into buildings and vehicles (causing both to explode), all as Danny and Solomon try to avoid all of that. The rebel forces finally win, line up the government soldiers, and then execute them via gunfire (partially seen). After that, we see many dead bodies on the street as well as overall chaos as the young rebels have taken over the city. We see various dead bodies strung up by their feet, while a truck drags another one behind it on the street. Danny has a reluctant Solomon fake being his captor as they approach rebels at a bridge checkpoint. Danny then shoots those two men dead (and then fires one more shot into each body to make sure), grabs a machine gun and shoots a third fleeing rebel dead (seen from a distance). We see dead and bloody people on a road, while a gun battle takes place by them, resulting in more wounded people including a bloody child that Solomon tries to get on the journalists' bus. When a real journalist complains, Solomon pushes that man back against the vehicle. A vehicle suddenly explodes and there's gunfire into the group's transport car. The driver is killed, a gun battle breaks outs, Danny pushes the dead driver out, and then speeds off in the car as bullets and a missile are fired at the fleeing vehicle. They end up driving through some sort of crop and then into the jungle where they crash to a stop, but are okay. Guns are held on Danny, Solomon, and Maddy, with her diffusing the situation by taking photos of the men. A man drives Danny, Solomon and Maddy toward a checkpoint held by two armed kids. He tries to be friendly to them, but one shoots and seriously wounds the man. Danny then holds his handgun on the two kids before speeding away in the car. Spotting rebel trucks approaching, Danny and Solomon hide in the jungle, but Solomon thinks he spots Dia, so he calls out his name. That alerts the rebels who get out, shoot at, and then hunt for them (with Danny and Solomon hiding under some vegetation as they pass by). About endangering his life, Danny warns Solomon, "I'll peel your face back off your head." Danny calls Solomon a name, prompting Solomon to rush him, but Danny punches him in the gut. Solomon then picks up Danny and throws him to the ground where he tries to strangle him, but Danny knocks his arms away, gets on top of him and holds his gun on him. As Danny orders a future air strike at a rebel camp (where we see women and children), Solomon worries that his son might be there. Later, when Danny wakes up at night in the rain, he realizes Solomon is gone. We then see Solomon in the camp where he spots Dia who says he doesn't know him, but then that he hates him (Solomon is then captured). At the same time, Danny is cautiously making his way through the camp, grabbing one guard, yanking him down and presumably killing him. Captain Poison then holds Solomon by the neck, with a machete to his face, wanting to know where the diamond is. He then says he'll rape Solomon's wife in front of his eyes, and then slit her throat. Captain Poison then holds a machete to Dia's throat to force Solomon to find the diamond. Military gunships open fire on a rebel camp with missiles and machine gun fire, wounding or killing many. Some on the ground fire back with machine guns, while Danny shoots several of them dead. Danny hits one soldier in the throat, while Solomon hits Colonel Coetzee on the hand with a shovel (to knock away his gun). Danny then shoots others, while Colonel Coetzee then shoots at Solomon and Danny. Danny then shoots Colonel Coetzee and then does so again, killing him like the others. Dia suddenly aims a handgun at Danny, and then on his father who manages to diffuse the situation. Badly wounded, Danny tries to climb a steep hill along with Solomon and Dia, but becomes progressively weaker. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Machine Guns/Rifles/Machetes/Grenades/Missiles: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound, or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. Guards (rebel, government, and jail) carry automatic weapons in various scenes. Children are taught to fire machine guns, including Dia. Military gunships open fire on a rebel camp with missiles and machine gun fire, wounding or killing many. Some on the ground fire back with machine guns, while Danny shoots several of them dead. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: Some accents are strong, so the following should be considered a minimum: "Oh f*cking hell," "I like to get kissed before I get f*cked," "I don't give a fuck about you," "It's all I can f*cking do," "Why don't you get the f*ck out of my face?" "There's no f*cking space," "F*ck it," "Who is this m*therf*cker?" "Don't you f*cking move," "Don't f*ck with me," "If he f*cks around," "Sh*t, man," "It's a sh*t, sh*t world," "It's sh*t," "Maybe I just don't give a sh*t," "Oh sh*t," "Blow jobs," "Bastard," "Screw the colonel," "Bugger off," "You know damn well," "In America it's bling, bling, here it's bling, bang," "Piss off," "TIA" (This is Africa), "Don't be a wanker," "I think you get off on people like me," "Geez," "You damn well better be able to find it," "You don't give a rat's ass," "Shut up," "You're an idiot," "You ask a hell of a lot of questions," "I don't give a damn, "You're a pisser" and "You can write the hell out of it." A rebel captain takes Danny's cigarette from him, takes a puff and purposefully blows smoke back in his face. Danny drinks liquor from a bottle so that he can pull out a tooth with a knife, but we then see it was hollowed out to smuggle a diamond inside it. Danny has several small tattoos on his arm. Danny spits. We see one kid carving letters into his arm with a razor blade (with bloody results). JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of suspenseful, ominous, and dramatic music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None, but some songs had lyrics that we couldn't fully hear and/or understand, thus presenting the possibility of them containing objectionable material. PROFANITY Some accents are strong, so the following should be considered a minimum: At least 16 "f" words (1 used with "mother"), 15 "s" words, 1 slang term for sex ("screw"), 4 damns, 3 hells, 1 ass, 1 wanker, 2 uses each of "Christ," "Jesus Christ" and "Oh Christ" and 1 use of "God." SEX/NUDITY We see Dia (a boy) shirtless. We see Solomon walking along with his shirt open. To prove to Captain Poison that he isn't smuggling a diamond, Solomon strips down nude in jail (he's in the shadows so we don't see any explicit nudity). We see Danny in just a towel. A hooker makes various come-ons to Danny on the street (that she's safe and doesn't have HIV), but he passes by her. About news coverage featuring the President Clinton sex scandal, Maddy states that the world is falling apart and "all we hear about is blow jobs." When Maddy asks Danny for some potentially volatile information off the record, he replies, "I like to get kissed before I get f*cked." Maddy shows some cleavage. Danny tells Maddy, "I think you get off on people like me." Maddy's shirt is partially open at the top, and we see the top of her breast. Maddy sarcastically tells Danny, "If you're not going to help me, and we're not going to screw..." SMOKING Danny smokes more than 10 times, Captain Poison smokes several times, Coetzee smokes once, and many miscellaneous characters smoke in various scenes. Danny tells his pilot, "Please tell me you brought cigarettes." Winded from their long hike, Danny says he ought to quit smoking. When Solomon says he should anyway, Danny says he will if Solomon finds him his diamond. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Solomon worries about his missing family members and spends most of the film looking for them. Rebels attack a group of refugees who panic and try to run. One is hit with a gun, while Dia is taken from his mother. As Solomon screams about his missing son, guards at a refugee camp hit his hands (with rifles) that are grasping the other side of a fence, with Danny then pulling him away to keep him from being shot. Solomon hears that his family can't be released from a refugee camp until a cease-fire has been declared (for fear that they might be rebels). We hear that Danny's mom was raped and shot, and that his father was decapitated and hung from a hook in a barn, all when Danny was 9-years-old. As Danny orders a future air strike at a rebel camp (where we see women and children), Solomon worries that his son might be there. Later, Solomon spots Dia in the camp, but the boy says he doesn't know him, and then that he hates him (Solomon is then captured). Captain Poison then holds Solomon by the neck, with a machete to his face, wanting to know where the diamond is. He then says he'll rape Solomon's wife in front of his eyes, and then slit her throat. Captain Poison then holds a machete to Dia's throat to force Solomon to find the diamond. One soldier pushes Dia along, holding a gun on him. Colonel Coetzee then holds a gun to the boy's head to make Solomon find the diamond. Dia suddenly aims a handgun at Danny, and then on his father who manages to diffuse the situation. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Diamonds, the process of getting them from discovery to the store, and how African people have killed one another to provide them. Civil wars. Journalists who work in the world's hot spots. Solomon's desire and wish that his son go to school and become a doctor rather than a fisherman like him. About news coverage featuring the President Clinton sex scandal, Maddy states that the world is falling apart and "all we hear about is blow jobs." Danny, Maddy, and Solomon arrive at a refugee camp filled as far as the eye can see (Maddy comments on it being a million people). Maddy states that one might catch a minute of this on CNN, between the sports and weather. There's talk of diamonds being kept off the market to keep the demand for them high. The fact that journalists took photos of the dead and wounded, while Solomon went to help an injured child. We see a kid with only one arm at a school designed to help such victims. The comment that the locals have fought over various things -- ivory, oil, gold, and diamonds -- for outsiders. Danny saying he wondered if God could forgive them for what they've done to each other in Africa, and that he then looked around and realized "God left this place a long time ago." Solomon saying he can understand why people want diamonds, but wonders how his people can do this (murder, enslavement, etc.) to each other. VIOLENCE As rebels drive up in several vehicles, Solomon and his son take off running. The rebels then storm the village, shooting various people dead (among the shooters are young boys), some with slightly bloody results. Solomon then runs and hacks through the back of his hut with a machete to try to rescue his wife and children, but as they get away, he's tackled by several who hold him to the ground, including with a hand to his throat. Captain Poison has a boy held down and then part of his arm cut off (we only see a little blood, but do briefly see the stump and severed limb). One slave tries to smuggle a diamond in his mouth, but Captain Poison catches and shoots that man dead. Solomon finds a rare, large diamond and tries to smuggle it away, first by holding it by his toes in the water, and then acting as if he has to go to the bathroom. He then attempts to bury it, but Captain Poison catches him in the act and holds a gun on him. Just then, government troops attack the rebels with machine guns and grenades, killing many of them (and an explosion hits Captain Poison, wounding him). Solomon then crawls away and buries the diamond just as government troops arrest him at gunpoint. A guard hits one prisoner on the leg repeatedly in jail. A guard then fires a shot in the jail to get everyone's attention. A man kicks open Danny's door, but the latter is not there (although we later see that the man has ransacked the place). Danny punches a man in the gut for ransacking his place. Rebels attack a group of refugees who panic and try to run. One is hit with a gun, while Dia is taken from his mother. We see children being whacked by rods or something similar in the dark. Dia is blindfolded, given a machine gun, and told to shoot it, unaware that a man has been put into the line of fire, resulting in his death (and Dia is shocked by this). Machine guns are fired at people fleeing in a city, including Danny and Solomon. Various people are hit as are buildings and cars, some of which explode from that as well as what appear to be Molotov cocktails. During this, a person is tossed out of a second story, but we don't see the impact below. Government soldiers then shoot many people running their way, followed by a big gun battle. Various rockets are fired into buildings and vehicles (causing both to explode), all as Danny and Solomon try to avoid all of that. The rebel forces finally win, line up the government soldiers, and then execute them via gunfire (partially seen). After that, we see many dead bodies on the street as well as overall chaos as the young rebels have taken over the city. We see various dead bodies strung up by their feet, while a truck drags another one behind it on the street. Danny has a reluctant Solomon fake being his captor as they approach rebels at a bridge checkpoint. Danny then shoots those two men dead (and then fires one more shot into each body to make sure), grabs a machine gun and shoots a third fleeing rebel dead (seen from a distance). As Solomon screams about his missing son, guards at a refugee camp hit his hands (with rifles) that are grasping the other side of a fence, with Danny then pulling him away to keep him from being shot. We see dead and bloody people on a road, while a gun battle takes place by them, resulting in more wounded people including a bloody child that Solomon tries to get on the journalists' bus. When a real journalist complains, Solomon pushes that man back against the vehicle. Kids, including Dia, mow down villagers with machine guns. A vehicle suddenly explodes and there's gunfire into the group's transport car. The driver is killed, a gun battle breaks outs, Danny pushes the dead driver out, and then speeds off in the car as bullets and a missile are fired at the fleeing vehicle. They end up driving through some sort of crop and then into the jungle where they crash to a stop, but are okay. We see dead people hanging by their necks and feet. A man drives Danny, Solomon and Maddy toward a checkpoint held by two armed kids. He tries to be friendly to them, but one shoots and seriously wounds the man. Danny then holds his handgun on the two kids before speeding away in the car. Danny talks of killing baboons in the past for food, and we see the motion and hear the sounds of him cutting something with a knife. His hands and arms are then bloody and he then drops a dead monkey down in front of Solomon (for food, but we don't see them eat it). Danny calls Solomon a name, prompting Solomon to rush him, but Danny punches him in the gut. Solomon then picks up Danny and throws him to the ground where he tries to strangle him, but Danny knocks his arms away, gets on top of him and holds his gun on him. Danny cautiously makes his way through a rebel camp, grabs one guard, yanks him down and presumably kills him. Captain Poison then holds Solomon by the neck, with a machete to his face, wanting to know where the diamond is. He then says he'll rape Solomon's wife in front of his eyes, and then slit her throat. Captain Poison then holds a machete to Dia's throat to force Solomon to find the diamond. Military gunships open fire on a rebel camp with missiles and machine gun fire, wounding or killing many. Some on the ground fire back with machine guns, while Danny shoots several of them dead. Solomon tackles Captain Poison into some water, hits him on the head with a shovel, pursues him, and then repeatedly hits him on the head with the shovel (we see the motion, but not the impact of the latter). Danny then shoots more rebels dead, as do Colonel Coetzee's forces waiting in the tree line. One soldier pushes Dia along, holding a gun on him. Colonel Coetzee then holds a gun to the boy's head to make Solomon find the diamond. Danny hits one soldier in the throat, while Solomon hits Colonel Coetzee on the hand with a shovel (to knock away his gun). Danny then shoots others, while Colonel Coetzee then shoots at Solomon and Danny (wounding the latter, but we don't learn that until later). Danny then shoots Colonel Coetzee and then does so again, killing him like the others. Shots are fired at Danny, Solomon and his son who all run off. Shots are fired at them again, with Danny returning fire at the shooters. Reviewed December 6, 2006 / Posted December 8, 2006

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