Hotel Rwanda Meets Oscar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg****

Rating: Null/10 (8 February 2006)

Genocide is the focus at Hotel Rwanda where the former Belgian colony explodes into utter chaos. Minority groups are routinely referred to as cockroaches and are headed for extermination.
It seems as if no one really cares about the fates of these poor miserable people trapped by fate.
Don Cheadle, as the hotel manager, is absolutely brilliant in a worthy Oscar nominated performance. His compassion runs deep. Cold at first, he does undergo an Oscar Schindler-like change for the sake of humanity.
A U.N. commission is sent in at first only to lead white people caught up in all this to safety. The scene where their bus leaves with a woman holding a dog in the back is poignant.
There is plenty of corruption and despair.
Will the U.N. rush in at the end and do an old western style cavalry saving of the civilians? It is well worth it to see this picture and find out.
Cheadle's wife in the film is played with gusto by Sophie Okenado. Her best supporting Oscar nominated performance is worth to see, as she depicts a woman of desperation who screams at her husband when she and their children are allowed to flee but he opts to remain.