Hotel Rwanda

3.5/4

Starring: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix

Rated PG-13 for An Appeal on Violence, Disturbing Images, and Brief Strong Language

It’s not easy to sit down on your couch to watch a movie about a genocide that left a million people dead.  The story of the Rwandan Genocide is not as well-known as the Holocaust, and this isn’t the film for those looking for an in-depth analysis at the factors leading up to the massacres.  That’s okay, though.  This is a biopic, not a documentary.

Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle) is the hotel manager at a five-star hotel in the capital of Rwanda.  But as pleasant as he and the guests are, there is trouble brewing.  Tensions between the two ethnic tribes of Rwanda (the Hutu and the Tutsi) are growing more intense by the minute, and it doesn’t take long for the powderkeg to blow.  As a Hutu, Paul is safe, but his wife, Tatiana (Okonedo), a Tutsi, is not.  After his hotel is used as a perfunctory refugee camp (much to Paul’s surprise), the hotel manager is now tasked with keeping over 1,000 people alive.

Many people have compared “Hotel Rwanda” to “Schindler’s List,” and while each film stands on its own, the similarities are almost impossible to ignore, and the results are not in favor for “Hotel Rwanda.”  To be fair, Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust epic is one of the best films ever made so such a statement shouldn’t be construed as me saying “Hotel Rwanda” is a bad film.  On the contrary, it’s a very good film.

Don Cheadle was primarily known as a character actor in supporting roles throughout much of the nineties.  He starred in small parts in movies such as “Traffic,” “Out of Sight,” and “Volcano.”  Although he got more substantial roles in independent films, they never received wide distribution.  That all changed with “Hotel Rwanda.”  Cheadle gives the performance of his career as Paul.  He’s a good man, and that’s why he fights to save as many people as he can.  But he never forgets his job; some of the most inspiring (and amusing) scenes are when he reminds everyone that this is still a hotel, and as such they have to work to keep the guests happy.  

But Paul has the toughest job of them all; he has to negotiate with the Army general, Bizimungu (Fana Mokoena) and George Rutaganda (Hakeem Kae-Kazim), the leader of the Interahamwe (the Hutu militia), neither of whom are sympathetic to the plight of the Tutsis.  So Paul has to use the diplomatic skills of a good hotel manager to arrange for supplies and safety for the refugees.

Able support is provided by Sophie Okonedo as Paul’s loving wife, Tatiana, and Joaquin Phoenix as a cameraman.  The most important supporting role is provided by Nick Nolte, who plays the frustrated and blunt UN commander who is angered that his ability to help is hampered by red tape and the politicians.  “We’re peacekeepers, not peacemakers,” he remarks.

The film is written and directed in a conventional way.  There’s nothing really wrong with that because it works.  But the film lacks the power and the characterization of “Schindler’s List.”  Again, it’s not an especially fair comparison because “Hotel Rwanda” comes across looking worse off than it actually is.  Don’t get me wrong.  This is a very powerful film, and I strongly recommend it.

Note: Originally, this film was rated R due to the disturbing nature of the film, but in a rare moment of lucidity, the rating was overturned on appeal.  Although the film doesn't skirt or soften the barbarity and devastation of what happened, it's impossible to argue with their decision.  Director Terry George never sensationalizes or exploits.  His goal is to disturb and sadden the viewer.  You can't argue that when it comes  to a movie this important, political correctness and self-interest must go out the window.