Only one thing will dull the memory of this movie, and that’s something I hadn’t really spotted in other reviews and articles about it, its rather huge resemblance to another big Oscar winner, Schindler’s List. Don Cheadle’s character, like Schindler (though a little more emotionally engaged), really only wants to protect his own interests to begin with – his loved ones, his close family – and keep the business side of things running. But when people start running to him for help, first friends, then complete strangers, he finds he can’t easily turn them away, then finds himself unable to abandon them, and finally winds up saving over 1000 people. He never intends to become a hero: like Schindler, there’s simply no reason for him not to.

Cheadle is brilliant, easily redeeming his (I thought) abysmal turn in Ocean’s 11. He pulls off the African accent both well and/or (since I don’t really know exactly how this accent should sound as opposed to his accent in Ocean’s) at least without being annoying. Equally brilliant is Sophie Okenedo as his wife, and in an almost miniscule role, Cara Seymour as a UN aid worker (or whatever the proper term may be) – Seymour slew me personally. I’ve seen a lot of the other movies in her IMDb profile, but I don’t fully remember her face. If Rwanda gets a bunch of Oscar nominations (and it probably will), I’d like to see her name in there, but the part’s probably far too small.

It’s very brutally made: the kind of movie where you feel the violence approaching and in the back of your head you’re thinking, “They’re not gonna hold back with this: I don’t think I’m gonna be able to look…”

Anyone doubting the relevance of the story of Hotel Rwanda to today won’t be let down, as it’s fairly well hammered across. My favourite line was this, delivered by Joaquin Phoenix,

“When people see this, I think they’ll say, oh my god that’s horrible, and then go on eating their dinners.”

Sadly, I fear that ultimately could also be said of the movie.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 24th, 2005 at 8:41 pm in Movie Reviews, unrated. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.