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Nolte is the most recognizable supporting player, and at first his performance seems oddly detached, like he's sleepwalking through the movie. But as the gravity of the conflict in Rwanda comes into clearer focus, you start to see Colonel Oliver as a man who is exasperated and deflated by his efforts to contain a situation that most of the world doesn't even care about. Although Joaquin Phoenix's role is relatively small, it does carry some importance in showing efforts of visiting journalists to get the world's attention. There's also a brief but touching moment where his character is forced to leave behind a Rwanda woman that he befriended because the U.N. peacekeepers have been told only to escort non-natives to the airport.

Director Terry George (who wrote the screenplay for In the Name of the Father) wisely shows restraint in his dramatization of the violence. Although thousands were being slaughtered, many with machetes, only one instance of this brutality, shown from a distance, is enough to present a clear picture. Another harrowing scene where Paul comes across a road littered with bodies is quite effective in showing the extent of this tragedy. There may be times where you wish the movie elaborated more on the history behind Rwanda's unrest, but placing the focus on the impact that one man had on those around him provides plenty of emotional depth.

Hotel Rwanda may benefit from some Oscar buzz for Cheadle and get a wider release than originally planned. In any case, this is a true story well told, and one that is worth seeking out.

Talk About It

1. In the midst of the brutal civil war depicted in "Hotel Rwanda," Paul's friend and co-worker Dube asks "Why are people so cruel?" How would you answer him?
   
   
2. How is it possible that most people didn't know what was happening in Rwanda? What can we do today to be made more aware of potentially tragic situations around the world?
   
   

The Family Corner

Hotel Rwanda is rated PG-13 "for violence, disturbing images and brief strong language." Some violent content is required to depict the horrible consequences of this civil war, but the film does a good job of dramatizing these events without any particularly graphic sequences. There is one gruesome scene showing dozens of dead bodies, and instances where people are being killed that are shown from a distance. Because of the tense situations, offensive language occasionally appears (about a dozen times).

Photos © Copyright United Artists

Terry George's new film Hotel Rwanda may not be a pinnacle of cinematic art—it spells out the details of the Rwandan conflict like a Cliff's Notes version for those viewers who didn't read the papers in 1994, who don't know the difference between the Hutu tribe and the Tutsi tribe. Nevertheless, it's one of the year's most powerful and important films.

Moviegoers and filmmakers have been mulling over the Holocaust for decades, as if the Nazis were the only nightmare in human history, as if such a thing will never happen again if we just see enough movies about it. But genocide continues, with an immediacy that prompts far too many people to just turn the pages of the newspaper and ignore the ugly reality. George is bringing our attention to more recent horrors, and his film is effective enough to increase awareness and inspire action.

Don Cheadle gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel owner who had the courage to shelter an endangered crowd of Tutsi people from the violent, rampaging Hutu barbarians bent on killing them. Like Oskar Schindler, he wasn't a perfect man, but his conscience is this year's best example of Christ-like sacrifice (outside of The Passion of The Christ, of course).

Mark Perry (Christianity Today Movies) says Cheadle is "outstanding" in his role, playing "a man whose courage and compassion directly saves the lives of his family and over 1,200 others." Perry also writes that the film "would be easy to categorize as an African version of Schindler's List, but trying to force this film into a specific category would actually diminish its importance. The fact that something this tragic could have occurred within the past 10 years indicates that our world still has a lot to learn, even from its recent history."

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