The worst good movie I have ever seen

Rating: 7/10 (4 November 2005)

So I finally get around to seeing Hotel Rwanda. A friend and I had a long standing engagement to get out and see this film however the forces that control these things conspired against that happening and as all movies eventually do, even good ones starring Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda left the theater. My friend and I would have to view something else.
As luck and fate would have it, Hollywood studios like to make as much money as they can on any given film and so they released Hotel Rwanda to DVD which allows viewing movies outside of the theater in your own home or place of convenience (forgive me if I am going to fast.) As I have a Netflix account and in that account I have a queue of movies, Hotel Rwanda was sent to me without me having to do anymore than point and/or click. Since it was sent, I felt obligated to watch - a fact that my wife hates by the way - while she has no problem stopping watching films already in progress, I, by some freak genetic mutation, must watch them to their painful end regardless of how long or asinine - much like the South Park episode where Cartman had to finish singing Come Sail Away whenever he heard the beginning of the song . . . but I digress.
For those not familiar: Hotel Rwanda stars Don Cheadle as Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsis refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda. The audience watches Paul's transformation from a man with style to a man with substance. (see the film - the quote makes more sense then.) So I watched IT - and here you are, dear reader, wondering how IT was. How do you think it was? Of course it was good, fine, Oscar nominated and all that. The story was heartfelt, Cheadle was stellar, impeccably shot. Heck, even the sound was good. And therein lies my problem - the film was all that I expected it to be and thus as I sit here thinking about it, I am terribly bored by it.
How horrible! I am an unfeeling boob! He should be gutted and hung in a public square to remind little children on how not to live their lives! And to all of these things I would say yes, yes, and yes again. But that doesn't make Hotel Rwanda any better at entertaining me (a funny side note, the aforementioned friend, myself, and my wife all went to see Amistad one evening and were so bored by the slave trade film that we fell asleep which incensed our more social conscious audience members.) The problem is that Hotel Rwanda is so paint-by-the-numbers Oscar caliber that I wanted terribly for some Sofia Coppola-esquire Godfather 3 performance or some random death to shake me from my stupor. I took to the Internet to see if I was alone in my thoughts. Here are some quotes from the IMDb:
larajane says: Watching with a friend, after ten minutes we had to pause the film because we decided we would be better served if we were more informed about what the basic facts of the conflict in Rwanda were. So to my shame, we had to read on the internet about what really happened, before we could continue. I say shame because we should have known, both of us were of an age when it happened to have taken more of an interest in world politics.
and this from Julie-Gefter: i am frustrated because nothing i can type can represent how powerful this movie is or how much it moved me. i can't comment on the amazing acting or cinematography or directing because the movie transported me.
and celiaricky loved the movie so much she "ovated" the director for 10 minutes - the lucky scoundrel: Just saw the San Francisco premier last night and it isn't a dramatization - it's much more of a documentary -- Hotel is extremely factual. CAN'T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THIS FILM! INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE! The Director and the story's protagonist were at the screening to answer questions. We ovated him for almost 10 minutes.
So there you have it - Hotel Rwanda was a good movie - a great movie by most accounts - that, I'd be willing to say if 'tweren't based on true facts would have been a nice little HBO original film. Cheadle is greatness - but watch Boogie Nights or Devil in a Blue Dress for a more impressive performance. And to all IMDb readers - I'm sorry I suck.
Movie notes: Hotel Rwanda is 121 minutes long and rated PG-13 for brief strong language, Oscar worthy depictions of human atrocities, and disturbing images. Directed by Terry George who has brought you other true life moving experiences such as A Bright Shinning Lie and the second episode of season one of the District. It stars Don Cheadle who is good in everything he does, on and off camera.