Diamond Men Starring Robert Forster, Donnie Walberg Directed by Dan Cohen Rated R for language and some sexuality *** out of 4 Stars, Movie Grade: B

Running time: 100 minutes

by Kevin Lang

It's always a good feeling to see movies like "Diamond Men." These are the promising films that slip through the cinematic cracks and are never given a wide release, if they are released theatrically at all. It makes me feel lucky to be in the position I'm in, where I get the fortunate chance to view such films.

"Diamond Men" told the story of two traveling diamond salesmen, Eddie Miller and Bobby Walker, working in central Pennsylvania. Eddie (Robert Forster) had suffered a heart attack and was no longer able to get insured to carry diamonds. Reluctant to quit, he got himself assigned to train Bobby (Donnie Walberg), the new young salesmen who was to be his replacement.

Bobby knew nothing about the diamond market, and before long Eddie had no hope for the success of his replacement. Gradually however, a bond began to develop between the two men as Bobby expressed to Eddie his desire to learn and his fear of failing. The two soon became friends, and Bobby even attempted to find the recently widowed Eddie a female companion.

In the end, the two learned invaluable lessons from one another in relation to their own lives, and we enjoyably witnessed these lessons as they evolved from the numerous conversations that the two shared throughout the film.

I liked "Diamond Men" for its subtle ability to effectively tell an enjoyable story while retaining the feel of small-town America throughout. The film itself resembled these towns, which were small on the map, but subtly full of life and enjoyable characters. Forester and Walberg delivered strong performances and were believable throughout. "Diamond Men" was a film that successfully worked within the scope that it developed for itself early on, and it never veered outside of this range. It stayed true to the course of the story, and it even offered a little surprise at the end.

"Diamond Men" Review written January 31, 2003, CTF.

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