Review of Hotel Rwanda (2004) by Mr F — 27 Mar 2012

"Welcome to the Hotel Rwanda... such a lovely place-oh wait, not anymore. No, but seriously though, it was horrifying what happened, yet I still find it almost delightfully ironic that in 2004, Don Cheadle did "Ocean's Eleven", another movie where he had an accent, but that time, he was the guy blowing stuff up. Hey, now, I'm glad that he's out there and doing all of these deep, meditative studies on the horrors of violence, but the fact of the matter is that the quirky comedies that glorify organized robbery pay a lot more, and Cheadle needs his cheddar. Maybe one day he'll combine the two and have "Iron Man 3" be a spin-off in which Rhodey dons the War Machine suit, flies into Africa and starts taking out the corrupt portions of their military (Which is about 99.999992%) while proclaiming, "Remember Rwanda!" I'm sure that's what the guy who wrote the consensus wishes they would proclaim to everyone outside of Africa, because he was emphatic about how the rest of the world "looked away" while the massacres were happening. Well, to be fair, 99.999993% (Just 0.000001% more than the percentage of corrupt portions of the African military) of the rest of the world probably didn't even know about the place, or if they did, they couldn't tell anyone about the situation because they couldn't pronounce the name of the place. Well, ladies and gentlemen, at long last the story is-well, was told almost eight years ago, yet it still hits home today, which isn't to say that the film doesn't hit a few bumps along the way.

The film is rarely, if ever plagued by long periods of sheer nothingness, but it does procrastinate often, whether it be in the beginning that features too much of Don Cheadle's Paul Rusesabagina character picking up supplements for his hotel, or even during the body that features the occasional moment of shift in focus. The latter loose piece in the storyline, while rarely serious, will still come in and take a hit at the tension and intrigue of the story. Now, I understand that even if the main priority was dealing with a genocide, there were still other matters at hand, yet the film's priority focus will get a touch inconsistent and knock you out of the flow. As I said, it's a rare event, but when it does happen, you start from scratch and have to build your investment back up again, and it doesn't help that appeal is already hurt by limited originality. This film's characters, subject matter and even its soundtrack have all, to one degree or another, served as components for other films of its type, and those conventions, combined with lapses in subtlety, dilute this film's intentions to audaciously portray the true, brutal horrors of such an awful tragedy... but only ever so slightly. The film stands to be harsher, fresher and more consistent with its themes, but if the film is consistent in one thing, it's effectiveness. True, that effectiveness stands to hit harder, but as things stand, you'll still walk away shocked, inspired and ultimately emotional, and it's mostly thanks to director Terry George's passion in the project.

Terry George's and Keir Pearson's screenplay is hardly subtle and even less refreshing, yet where the film's predictable manipulations could have only diluted the quality of the film, George puts his soul in it as director. True, his focus gets a touch inconsistent, but on the whole, George's storytelling is meditative without being slow and emotional without being overly manipulative, and with those two aspects creating an aura of tension, intrigue and consequence that far outweight the effectiveness of the uneven focus and pulling back on the horrors of the situation. Still, although this portrayal of one of harshest testaments to violence in Africa is not the most effectively harsh portrayal of testaments to violence in Africa, when that constant intrigue in the air has to turn into hardcore, in-the-moment-intensity when the filter is loosened and brutality is really focused upon, George plays up the anxiety and horror of something that we've seen portrayed many times in films of this type, yet rarely this effectively. Of course, the brutality that should be more prominently focused upon is often overlooked for the sake of the been-there-seen-that emotional aspects that could have been intensified by deep focus on the aforementioned brutality, and if a film is going to pull that kind of cheap trick, they better still have enough resonance to back things up, and sure enough Terry George not only hits with tension, but also hits with emotion, whether it be through his manipulation of the fabulous (With the exception of that absolutely awful, absysmally sung and written (Though well-played for some reason), as well as even deeply offensive - yes, offensive - Wyclef Jean song in the credits that pretty much redeems every simplification of the horrors that took place in Rwanda in this film) and deeply-impacting soundtrack - familiar though, it may be - or pure atmosphere, and really cuts, maybe not as deeply as he should, but enough for you to walk away with much to think about and much emotional satisfaction in your heart. Of course, George isn't the only one to thank for the film's compellingness, because I brag about performances in just about - nay - pretty much every review, and I'm certainly not going to stop now. Okay, now, much like the film itself, the performances stand to be more layered and effective, yet what material the performers are presented with are delivered with passion and confidence that matches that of the director. Don Cheadle, in particular, not only impresses with a pretty sharp African accent, but lays down a charisma and presence that both charms and touches, being riddled with powerful emotion and assurance that will leave you to walk away with this further evidence of Cheadle's talents as one of the most memorable things about the film.

Overall, its focus is occasionally inconsistent, whereas its story is consistently unsubtle and familiar, if not just plain formulaic as a film of its type, yet director Terry George transcends the missteps in his and Keir Pearson's screenplay by delivering on frequent intrigue broken up by powerful tension and, of course, impacting emotion, and with all of that complimented by strong performances - particularly that of the charismatic Don Cheadle -, "Hotel Rwanda" is left a thoroughly engaging and ultimately rewarding study on Paul Rusesabagina's inspiring actions during some of Africa's darkest days in recent memory.

3/5 - Good.