Powerful and meaningful movie about a terrible civil war.

Rating: 8/10 (5 February 2005)

This movie is set during the Rwandan civil war with its great brutality and ethnic cleansing. The movie is about a hotel owner who tried to keep his family, guests and many refugees alive.
It is a powerful and worthwhile story that is moving and emotional without being melodramatic or too preachy. Don Cheadle contributes a good performance.
The power of this story is the power of the events it is about. Good supporting performance by Fana Mokoena as General Bizimungo.
The most affecting parts are the scenes with the killer rebels and thug soldiers who run the city. I like the realistic confrontations and the feeling of fear & terror the movie provided.
Because it is essentially a true story, the movie makes me think about it could have turned out better. I afraid that the world really was as powerless as Nick Nolte's UN Officer. This is sad too.