Leonardo DiCaprio...two thumbs up.

DiCaprio deserves two thumbs up for his most recent performances in Blood Diamond, and The Departed.

First, Blood Diamond, set in Sierra Leone in the mist of a civil war, it is riveting and brutal, primarily because the business of diamonds is often vicious. This is an important film, Leonardo DiCaprio, plays Danny, a cunning Afrikan diamond smuggler willing to do anything to satisfy his greed. Solomon, played by Djimon Hounsou, a fisherman caught in the Rebel cross fire is taken from his family, imprisoned, and held at gunpoint by child soldiers to labor in diamond mines. He unearths an enormous pink diamond, buries it, and is on the run; once word gets out, everyone is after him. Oscar winner, Jennifer Connelly plays an ambitious journalist trying to uncover the truth. She exposes the exploitation, maiming, and murder of innocent Afrikan children, women & men, in the quest for the coveted gems by governments, corporations, and consumers. GO SEE Blood Diamond, it will remind you "all that sparkles is not beautiful".
(138 minutes, R)

*****

Next, The Departed is a film full of crime and suspense, where two detectives are hiding behind their shields; uncertain who can be trusted, and a person's true identity. Set in Boston, DiCaprio, plays a street tuff and a son of a dead cop; he manages to gain entrance into the State Police Academy, and immediately upon graduation is handpicked to be a mole, to infiltrate the mafia. Matt Damon, a fellow academy graduate, groomed since childhood by mob boss, played by the notorious, Jack Nicholson, becomes a mole for organized crime, charged with infiltrating the police. Each is on a mission to unmask the other, before time runs out. GO SEE The Departed, it has plenty of surprises , the cast is outstanding, and Martin Scorsese, director & storyteller, deserves more than an Oscar nod for this film, he deserves a trip to the podium.
(151 minutes, R)