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Trading SpacesHome-swapping in Holiday. Plus, Leo DiCaprio's turn in Blood Diamond.

By Dana StevensPosted Friday, Dec. 8, 2006, at 6:19 PM ET

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Blood Diamond is a by-the-numbers message picture, to be sure. When in dire need of some exposition on the international jewel trade, it's not above cutting to a discussion around a G8 conference table. But the director, Edward Zwick, is craftsman enough that the pace never slackens, the chase scenes thrill, and the battle scenes sicken. And if it makes viewers think twice about buying their sweethearts that hard-won hunk of ice for Christmas, so much the better.

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Dana Stevens is Slate's movie critic.
Photograph of Kate Winslet and Jack Black in Holiday by Zade Rosenthal, courtesy Sony Pictures Publicity. Photograph of Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond by Jaap Buitendijk, courtesy Warner Bros. Entertainment.
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