Well I'm going to try something new and review two movies at the same time, madness! I think it's fitting that I review Charlie Wilson's War and Blood Diamond Blood because they both have something in common. No, I'm not talking about the fact that they both make me want to punch Julia Roberts in the ovaries. I'm talking about the fact that I really enjoyed both of these movies, but was pissed off by their messages, allow me to expound.
Charlie Wilson's War kicks off to a great start, you see like 7 boobs in the first 15 minutes, awesome! The movie slows down a little bit after the initial adrenaline rush, but it remains interesting and entertaining to the very end. At the beginning of the movie we learn that Afghani rebels are desperately trying to deter the spread of communism into their country. Charlie Wilson feels a tugging at his heart-strings and manipulates the American government into backing the Afghani resistance. Armed with American-supplied rockets the Afghani's shoot down Russian helicopters and everybody rejoices, yay!
After sending much more money to Afghanistan than he originally appealed congress for, Wilson begins to feel remorse for not giving Afghanistan enough money to rebuild their country and educate their children. It is at this point that we, the viewer, are supposed to understand that all of our current problems in Afghanistan (including the terrorist attacks on America) stem from the fact that we didn't give them enough money 30 some-odd years ago... riiiight.
Blood Diamond is an exciting movie about the Liberian civil war that lasted from 1989 to 2003. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a fictional diamond smuggler (Danny Archer) who promises to help a native Liberian named Solomon rescue his son from Revolutionary United Front forces. We soon come to find out that Archer is a quick-talking anti-hero who exploits Solomon for the purpose of locating and selling a giant diamond. By the end of the movie Archer overcomes many of his weaknesses and saves the day! yay again!
Now who are the bad guys in this movie? the RUF forces that murder innocent civilians, kidnap young boys and brainwash them? Nope! America again! Thanks to our non-interest in news other than the Clinton sex scandal and our incessant lust for cheap diamonds, millions of people are grievously maimed, raped, killed, and forced from their homes in central Africa. At the very end of the movie, the viewer is encouraged to refrain from buying 'conflict diamonds' and is made aware of the fact that there are still more than 200,000 child soldiers in Africa. Just WTF are we supposed to do exactly? get on a plane, fly to Liberia and adopt a little boy-soldier? give me a break.
When everything is said and done I really enjoyed both of these movies, thanks for the recommendations Ali :) Both have great stories, acting and effects and I am officially awarding both films 3 stars.
WARNING
Every time you buy a diamond you make one African kill another.
1 comments:
Yes I agree, Blood Diamond was a good movie, but had a stupid political "tree hugger" message at the end. Gosh dang hippies, I thought they were all dead already!
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