Powerfully emotional and inspiring

Rating: 9/10 (24 December 2006)

I look back on this movie and I find myself realizing that it was one of the most moving movie's I have ever seen. Not that I've seen an incredible variety or astonishing number of movies. But I do know that I am a relatively average 17-year-old who loves movies and I was inspired by this movie in a way only a few other films have.
Don Cheadle, a Best Actor Oscar contender for 2004, gives his all to his portrayal of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager that sheltered hundred of refugees during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Hotel Rwanda is more about Paul's story than the massacres in general, and that's not a bad thing. Seeing this catastrophe through the eyes of a man in Paul's position means that we are party to key figures: a U.N. Colonel (Nick Nolte) who wants to help but is constrained by the limits of his orders, a spoiled general (Fana Mokoena) who provides military protection for Rusesabagina's refugees in response to flattery and bribery, and an American journalist (Joaquin Phoenix) who delivers one of the key revelations of the movie: "I think if people see this footage, they'll say 'Oh, my God, that's horrible.' And then they'll go on eating their dinners." Africa is too far away for it to be of any concern to people like us.
But all these characters take back seat to Paul in the narrative; they occasionally provide obstacles, such as when the general refuses to give any more police support until Paul bluffs desperately, but the movie belongs to Paul and, inherently, to his family. Don Cheadle plays Paul as a man whose family is more important to him than anything else; his first and foremost concern is for his wife and children and there are moments where he must choose between them and the other Rwandans in his care. His wife, Tatiana, is emotionally played by Sophie Okonedo as a compassionate woman who, even as strong as she turns out to be, feels she needs her husband in order to survive. The love between Paul and Tatiana is one of the anchors in this movie, and thanks to the screenwriters and Okonedo, Tatiana is just as well-developed a character as Paul.
While Hotel Rwanda may focus in on this one man and his heroism, the movie manages to skillfully indict the outside (white) world for not taking the initiative to interfere in this conflict. The question of whether or not we could have done anything is moot in this movie; when faces as human as these are painted onto the problem, it seems like we at least should have done something.