Hotel Rwanda is a powerful historical drama about the civil war in the titled country back in April of 1994. It stars Don Cheadle, Nick Nolte and Sophie Okonedo.

The plot focuses around Cheadle's character, Paul Rusesabagina. Paul is the manager of the Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali, Rwanda catering to the elite of Rwandan society. A civil war breaks out between the Hutu and the Tutsi groups that ultimately results in 800,000 deaths. In the middle of the chaos, Paul's hotel becomes a refuge for over one thousand. They use the hotel's resources, including the cash in the safe, and the liquor stores to bribe military officials into leaving the refugee camp alone. The UN peacekeeping detachment, ably led by Nolte that plays Colonel Oliver is portrayed as ineffective, and only concerned with evacuating citizens of other nations out of Rwanda. This contributed to the mass genocide that occurred.

Hotel Rwanda is inspirational showing one man's courage and persistence to do some good amidst so much tragedy. It is shot well, and has a good pace. My only criticism is that on the DVD there are no subtitles, and at times the African accents are a little difficult to decipher, so they would have helped. If you haven't rented it yet, it's well worth seeking out.

Overall Grade: A-

Reviewed by Jonas

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