Cheadle's List
HOTEL RWANDA

RATING: A

Starring Don Cheadle, Sophie Okoneda, Joaquin Phoenix, Desmond Dube, David O'Hara, Cara Seymour and Nick Nolte. Music by Andrea Guerra, Rupert Gregson-Williams, Director of Photography Robert Fraisse, Production Designer Tony Burrough, Johnny Breedt, Produced by A. Kitman Ho, Terry George, Screenplay by Keir Pearson, Terry George, Directed by Terry George.

Rated R, Running Time 122 mins., 2.35 to 1 Anamorphic Scope Aspect Ratio.

Don Cheadle caught my eye a decade ago with his role as a young prosecutor on David E. Kelly's "Picket Fences" TV series and has managed to build up a nice resume of supporting roles. From his role as Denzel Washington's trigger happy childhood friend "Mouse" in "Devil In A Blue Dress", to being a favorite of director Steven Soderbergh, Cheadle has played everything from a reliable sidekick to threatening adversary. As solid a performer as Cheadle is, the roles he's been offered have become a tad generic. I almost cringe when I see an ad for a buddy comedy, action or drama starring some hot white actors and Cheadle is listed at the bottom of the credits in another supporting role. He's in danger of becoming another Sam Jackson and a "Six Degrees of Don Cheadle" game can not be far behind. Thank the movie gods that Cheadle landed the lead in "Hotel Rwanda", a role that may not only shape his future but cause audiences to look at him with newfound appreciation.

In a career defining performance, Cheadle stars as real life Paul Rusesabagina a manager of the luxurious Hotel Des Mille Collines in Kigali, Rwanda. Set against the 1994 Hutu uprising, Paul sees the hotel as "an oasis of calm for their loyal customers" which include the country's power brokers, wealthy tourists and corrupt military. Despite mounting tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi factions, Paul continues to operate the hotel and command his staff of 100. When the president is assassinated a civil war erupts and Hutu extremists begin to massacre Tutsi civilians. A Hutu himself, Paul begins to fear for his Tutsi wife Tatiana (Sophie Okoneda) and their children as well as their neighbors who are attempting to flee. Paul is stuck between a rock and a hard place as a valued employee of the hotel's Belgian owners and as a human being, witnessing these atrocities before his eyes.

As the uprising gets worse, foreign relief workers and soldiers are evacuated, but Tutsi refugees are endlessly slaughtered. When UN army commander Nick Nolte tells Paul that he's been ordered not to intervene, he realizes that he and his people will have to save themselves. The oasis for the rich and powerful becomes an oasis for refugees when Paul decided to use his managerial skills to protect and hide Tutsis in his hotel. With their numbers growing in the hundreds, Paul hopes they can hold out long enough to receive some form of military aid. But as photojournalist Joaquin Phoenix tell him "people see footage and say 'Oh that's horrible,' then they go on eating their dinners."

Much like "Schindler's List", "Hotel Rwanda" is a story of thousands of refugees trying to survive amidst mass genocide. At the time of the Hutu army uprising the American people were more focused upon the story of O.J. Simpson. There's an unsettling moment in the film, where Cheadle is hugging someone who is grateful for his protection and behind them is an issue of Time Magazine's 'Man of the Year' President Bill Clinton. As Nolte's commander tells Cheadle" You should spit in my face. We think you're trash, the American people. You're not even a Nigger, you're African. They're not gonna stop this slaughter." The massacre would leave close to one million Tutsis dead by either the quickness of a bullet or destructive nature of a machete.

Cheadle knows that they're pretty much on their own and he'll have to use his wits to save them from death by bullet or machete. His skills at bribery, flattery and humbling himself before individuals are all he has to earn them all one day at a time. He also discovers that many individuals he considered friends are all too eager to turn their backs on him. His assistant, his neighbors and even his trusted colleague General Bizimungu (Fana Mokena) of the police army are only willing to help for a price. In a chilling scene, Cheadle bribes the General for help with jewelry and scotch and instead of providing the hotel with temporary protection he only wants to discuss his past visit to Scotland.

Another powerful scene involves Cheadle driving through the night to get food and alcohol from his longtime friend and supplier, a Hutu supporter. Discovering that they are all slaughtering Tutsi children to forever wipe out the bloodline, Cheadle asks "You do not honestly believe you can kill them all?" to which he replies "And why not? Why not? We're halfway there already!" On the dark ride back in his supply van, Cheadle and his driver think they've become stuck in mud, but discover the reason they have difficulty driving down the road is because it's littered with thousands of bodies, some with faces frozen in terror before death.

It's an understatement to say that "Hotel Rwanda" is a powerful film, its more like a blast across your temple with a concrete slab. The film is rife with atrocities that man can so easily commit, but its also a story of hope and love. People often ask about the nature and origins of such evil, but never about the love and courage that encounters and often overcomes it. Cheadle plays a man who finds an inner strength he never knew and uses every day skills he never thought would come in handy to save lives. He plays it with intelligence and conviction and not as a man who wants to be a hero.

A star making performance is also provided by Sophie Okoneda as Paul's devoted wife Tatiana. This could have been the typical role of a wife who disappears into the background, but she in Cheadle make it seem as if they have a real marriage and partnership. The constant tension within the film is temporarily relieved in a poignant scene when he reveals that during their courtship he bribed an official to have her transferred so that he could eventually marry her. Nick Nolte is ever reliable as the UN army commander who tries to do everything he can to provide aid to Cheadle, but remains completely honest and realistic with him. He doesn't like what's happening or the response to it and often risks his life and the lives of his men to attempt to get refugees across the border.

Joaquin Phoenix's role as an American photo-journalist is brief, yet effective and there's a memorable role from Cara Seymour as a health aide relief worker trying to find Okeneda's nieces. There's also nice work by Jean Reno as the head of the Belgian firm that owns the hotel who frantically attempts to use his political contacts to provide Cheadle aid as well as Fana Moekana as the real life and delusional General Bizimungu. This is powerful subject matter that could have been botched if not for Terry George's expert direction. We've seen films about the horrors of the world before and where many have managed to depress the audience or attempt to manipulate them for sympathy, this film uplifts and demonstrates that besides our frailties, there's hope for the human race yet.