This movie is a little strange. It defies categorization to its detriment. It is sort of an action thriller--Leonardo DiCaprio on a quest with a gun. But it deals with very serious, depressing themes that are not well-served in an action thriller: civil war, conflict diamonds, refugees, child soldiers, mercenaries and smuggling. There is a strange sequence featuring the child soldiers blasting 90s hip hop and shooting heroine and it is edited in a way that makes it looks like they're having fun, which is wildly inappropriate for the subject matter. The tone is very strange. Every nice moment is capped off with action--you're not given any opportunity to enjoy it. The movie severely undermines the important role of the press in conflict zones as Jennifer Connelly is a pawn in Leonardo DiCaprio's game, really just serving as a love interest and a distraction. The white savior narrative is also unwelcome. Everyone with real agency in the movie is white in this movie that takes place in Africa. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a man from Zimbabwe; he introduces himself as Rhodesian. He puts on a white South African accent; I can't really tell if it's good or bad. The dialogue is either brilliantly in dialect or very offensive. DiCaprio is certainly very committed. Djimon Hounsou is actually the star of the movie, in my opinion.
