Leonardo DiCaprio has remained one of the biggest names in Hollywood for almost a quarter of a century without really coming close to lending his talents to either a straightforward blockbuster, or a big budget epic based on a recognizable property.
Christopher Nolan’s Inception may have cost a pretty penny and featured plenty of pyrotechnics, but it hardly fits the modern ideal of what a four-quadrant crowd-pleaser should be. That makes his longevity all the more impressive, given that it’s his talent alone that’s seen him stay top of the pile for so long.
That’s not to say he hasn’t dabbled in a spot of running and gunning before, with Edward Zick’s politically-charged thriller Blood Diamond a notable example. A deft balance of broad genre film and prestige drama, the action-packed, exciting and thematically weighty movie nabbed $171 million at the box office and five Academy Award nominations back in 2006.
DiCaprio’s South African mercenary forms a reluctant alliance with Djimon Honsou’s fisherman, striking a bargain that will see the former rewarded with a massive uncut stone if he helps the latter rescue and reconnect with his family. It’s a great movie, one that’s been enjoying a resurgence on Netflix after ascending to sixteenth place on the Netflix most-watched list around the world, as per FlixPatrol.
