Simply Perfect

As Good As It Gets

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It's films like this, whether one hundred percent historically accurate or not, that convince me that any suggestion of 'world peace' is merely a pipe dream. Here you have two warring tribes within the same country that can't get along with each other, resulting in death and bloodshed involving over a million people. And for what? When you come right down to it, what was the essential difference between Tutsi and Hutu? None that I could tell, and quite honestly, none that most of the evil Interhamwe could tell as well unless one admitted to being one or the other. It just makes me so angry.And as for the United Nations, what exactly is their purpose if they can't take a principled stand in the face of genocide and slaughter? Any minute I was expecting Nick Nolte's character, General Oliver, to take matters into his own hands as he witnessed the persecution and beatings, but no. He was handcuffed by a set of principles laid down by distant bureaucrats with the threat of losing his command if he didn't follow orders.It's hard not to wind up being cynical after seeing a treatment like this. I have a t-shirt that states 'Losing Faith in Humanity, One Person at a Time', and this film is the embodiment of that sentiment. The real life Paul Rusesabagina, portrayed by Don Cheadle, is a living saint in my book, having the courage and selflessness to look beyond his own family and personal circumstances, to put his life at risk to help both Tutsis and Hutus escape an impossible situation. His most powerful scene, in my estimation, was when Paul realized that the world community was not moving forward to help the Rwandans, challenging his hotel guests and the targeted Tutsis to reach out to anyone they personally knew who could possibly help their situation. It was such a travesty that he had to implore them all to 'shame the world into sending help'.

Grim subject matter aside, this is a jewel of a movie which I hope with every fiber of my being you will watch. Compassion, corruption, fear, violence, hate, love, integrity and honor are the highlights of this film. The world stands by while terrible things happen all the time. We have no choice sometimes. We're far away, politically disconnected, we feel powerless. The cognitive dissonance pounds our hearts at times.What chimes in my heart the most about this movie is that this is actually the sole theme of the movie. It is not overpowered by moral preaching, it does coerce you into feeling anything specific, it's purpose is simply to allow you to feel SOMETHING about what is happening; whether it be yesterday, 1994 Rwanda, or today with Syria. It gives you a road map and empowers you. It's incredibly inspiring. Words cannot explain.Sometimes, feeling something is the best you can do. Reflect, learn and try to be one of the good ones. Be a hero in your own little world. You do what you can do be good, at the cost of witnessing certain atrocities and being restricted in what you can do about it. Just do what you can, when you can. (I speak of the protagonist's role and not the world, in this particular situation, the world was most certainly not heroic) And sometimes, when you can do that, you may not know it at the time, but you become something bigger; a real hero. This is a movie about the dignity of fear, of monsters at every turn and above all else, it is a movie to help you define what it is to be a hero, a true real life hero. Not the MARVEL superhero kind, but those kind of people with hearts so big that they make you feel grateful to be human.In the very midst of hell happening on earth, the protagonist, brilliantly brought to life by Don Cheadle, feels the events and makes small decisions. That is all. And you watch him. This movie makes the world feel it. The moment of it. The smallness he feels and the enormity of the world at the same time. You feel it. It's a pure sentiment distilled down to its purest form and that is the very premise of the movie.Bad things happen, we try to be good, we try to be strong, we do what we can and keep our chins up. The beauty of being human is that you decide how to react to the world, in all its contrasting colors and beautiful madness, you too can find honor, valor, humility, integrity -- MEANING -- PURPOSE.What a brilliant shining beacon of light this movie was.... despite being at the same time a grimmest saddest and most harrowing foray into the darkness of the human spirit. All at the same time. A true masterpiece.I must note that the powerlessness I feel after watching this movie is a bit overwhelming, but it has sparked something in me. I am not very political, but my views have now been changed. I suspect the director and writer and actors would be pleased that I feel restless to go out into the world and do something good now.

Based on the true story of a Rwandan hotel manager who sheltered over a thousand refugees during the 1994 genocide, 'Hotel Rwanda' offers a glimpse at a sad chapter of modern history seldom told. Often mentioned is the blind eye turned by the outside world to what is happening in Rwanda with a key piece of dialogue coming from lead actor Don Cheadle saying that they need to shame the world into helping out. The film is supported by strong performances from not only Cheadle but also Sophie Okonedo as his strong-willed wife who truly rises above stereotype: she is never once fragile, passive or helpless. Upon initial release, the film attained comparisons to 'Schindler's List' with a similar story of a brave man sheltering others in war, however, such comparisons actually reveal some of 'Hotel Rwanda''s shortfalls. Most notably, Cheadle's Paul is honorable and generous from the get-go compared to Oskar Schindler's who gradually progresses from greedy to selfless. Spielberg's inclusion of seemingly random subplots (like the gun that does not go off) also paint a fuller picture of the Holocaust, whereas 'Hotel Rwanda' offers a far more contained portrait of the genocide. And yet, if not the out-and-out masterpiece that some claim it to be, 'Hotel Rwanda' remains quite an accomplished motion picture with tension frequently felt in the air.

Hotel Rwanda was a very intense, sad, and inspirational film. Before watching this movie I knew a little about the Rwandan genocide. I knew that it was between two ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis, but I did not really comprehend the amount of deaths or the true atrocity of this genocide until I saw the film. I think that it did a really good job of portraying the horrors of the genocide to the viewers. On top of that, it showed that no country came to the aid of the Tutsis. The UN was there, but they did nothing which really shocked me. I thought that in a humanitarian crisis like the Rwandan genocide the UN would be very concerned and have a lot of involvement in helping the people, but they did not seem to be doing anything at all. I hope that in future crises, the UN would have much more of an impact to stop deaths from occurring. The movie was directed by a Jamaican director who was American trained; this was evident by some aspects of the film including the happy ending, the almost death scenes, and the depiction of some of the characters. I would give this movie ⅘ stars overall.