An incredibly dignified movie

Rating: 9/10 (29 June 2005)

This was a really powerful film. The word that leaps to mind is dignified. A film about the genocide in Rwanda could have taken a lot of roads to hit you in the gut. What impressed me is that you don't get a lot of graphic shots - actually no graphic shots. There is less blood in this film than most episodes of CSI. The film assumes you are capable of understand the horror of the event without showing it to you. Don Cheadle has worked in crap like Mission to Mars, Ocean's 11, and Swordfish so the way he pulls out his role Paul Rusesabagina might shock. He really brings out the character who isn't some crusading hero but a normal man who brings the same talents to saving Rwandans that he used to serve guests at his hotel. He plays the role with such grace and ease that the character is wholly credible. The film's biggest emotion for me was less one of sadness than anger. Listening to an actual US State Department broadcast talk about "Acts of Genocide" get interrupted by a reporter asking, "How many acts of genocide does it take before something is genocide." was maddening. You realize how little effort- manpower and money- it would have taken to avert the killing of almost a million Rwandans but the world sat by and did nothing but make noises at the UN. Pitiful.