disgustingly overrated

Rating: 3/10 (14 September 2005)

I saw this movie with high expectations-- the media and classmates all gushed about how wonderful and powerful and moving it was. Well, it wasn't. I felt guilty the whole time I was watching it, because I didn't "feel" anything. In fact I found it to be a pretty boring/sterile film save for the moment in the middle where the hotel owner walks in the foggy cloud among dead bodies. I can't believe that this was supposed to be about the real, devastating events that actually happened in Rwanda. I bet most of people who gave this movie rave reviews are just compensating for their previous ignorance and apathy. It's a mediocre, shallow movie parading itself as a powerful film about the great feat of a man standing up for humanity and protecting refugees during a time of ethnic genocide. Instead of wasting your time with this pathetic attempt, look up the subject and read the literature instead. (Try _We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families_ by Phillip Gourevitch, part of which is actually inspired Hotel Rwanda)