Blood Diamond: DiCaprio, Connelly and Hounsou Shine in This Social Commentary Turned Thriller

"I believe they're just people. It's what they do that makes them good or bad," responds Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) to the question that seems to underlie Blood Diamond from the very beginning. As the latest in an increasingly long line of social commentaries disguised as films, Blood Diamond stands strong with its ability to blend the important questions and issues with fast-paced, intense action sequences and pure moviegoing fun.

The problem at hand is both the supply and demand of conflict diamonds, which are sold illegally to provide the revenue for the arms that keeps the country of Sierra Leone in a constant state of civil unrest. Children are abducted, mindwashed and sent back to villages to find workers at gunpoint for the diamond mines, who then send the product through smugglers like Archer to the Western world for consumption. The subject is heavy and director Edward Zwick allows it to stay that way for much of the movie, making his much-needed point without letting it ruin the experience.

The story itself dives into the life of Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), whose son Dia has been kidnapped and whose family has become displaced to a refugee camp. Vandy is forced to work and ends up finding a "pink," the term for a rare, valuable, and very large diamond. When word gets out, chaos ensues and, while Vandy escapes from his captors, he is soon captured by government forces and taken to prison where he meets Archer.

The rest of the story is the pursuit of regaining this diamond, which Vandy buried in a remote part of the country. Jennifer Connelly plays Maddy Bowen, the obviously attractive journalist who comes along for the ride providing what little feminine appeal there is to be found. Zwick takes the trio on a relentless chase, running from enemies on all sides and hardly pausing to take a breath.

It's in these breaks that the questions are asked: Who are the good guys here or are there any at all? Is there an answer to this conflict? Archer's answer to the question of "Are people born good or bad?" sets the stage perfectly for the sort of enigmatic answers the movie provides, which aren't many. In fact, Zwick is content to ask each question with shortened breath before taking another hurried exit. It's this frenetic pacing that raises the movie above other similar movies, such as Hotel Rwanda and The Constant Gardener in its ability to keep the audience.

The acting here is superb on all sides, but none better than Hounsou who turns in a performance filled with sadness, rage and horror -- sometimes all at once. DiCaprio does a decent job of maintaining the accent and turns in a solid performance, although his work in The Departed is much more memorable. And newcomer Caruso Kuypers, who plays Solomon's kidnapped son Dia, turns in a fine performance rarely seen among child actors.

Blood Diamond is ultimately everything it could have hoped to be, dealing with the subject matter that it does. It doesn't reduce the conflict for the sake of making money, and yet the movie still entertains nonetheless. It's the perfect blend of thought-provoking action worth a few of your holiday dollars.