Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with Capone, the viscious gangster up in Chicago-town, and his opinion of the Don Cheadle starrer HOTEL RWANDA. Our very own Mr. Beaks interviewed Mr. Cheadle about this film and from everything I've heard it seems like an amazing piece of cinema. I can't wait to see it. Here's Capone with juicy details!
I feel like I've seen 100 movies in the past two weeks. The screenings have been coming in such rapid succession, there just hasn't been time to write about any of them. MILLION DOLLAR BABY seemed to sneak up out of nowhere and move grown men to tears. I had a lot of fun watching SPANGLISH, a film that will introduce you to some fine young talents as well as hopefully change the way you look at a few comedy veterans. Pedro Almodovar officially becomes one of the great storytellers of our time with BAD EDUCATION, a whirling, winding string of stories that is as hard-hitting as it is delicate. I also caught the Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlet Johansson vehicle IN GOOD COMPANY from writer-director Paul Weitz. With three very likeable leads, the film is a little light on the dramatic tension, but this tale of a top-level sales exec (Quaid) having his job and daughter (the never-more-beautiful Johansson) usurped by a young upstart corporate tool (Grace) still has some poignant things to say about how the fast-paced business world treats its over-40 employees. I found it a pleasant, if not all that challenging, viewing experience. But the film I'm really hear to talk about is one that, as far as I can tell, hasn't been touched by this site yet. That's a bit shocking, but I'm here to change that.
I'll admit that before the film won the People's Choice Award at this year's Toronto Film Festival, I'd never heard of HOTEL RWANDA, and I'm guessing that many of youhaven't heard much if anything about it. That will change in the coming week or so. HOTEL RWANDA is the kind of film that people are going to discover is a slow but steady way. It's the kind of film that you will find yourself begging others to see for fear that not enough eyes will see it, and not enough people will talk about it. And if you weren't already a member of the Church of Don Cheadle, HOTEL RWANDA will feel like a calling. Cheadle has existed in and out of Hollywood as one of the finest character actors of his generation, breathing life into characters in good and bad movie that few veterans supporting players could have done much with. Stealing every scene away from Denzel Washington in DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, Cheadle just kept winning us over with roles in BOOGIE NIGHTS, BULWORTH, HBO's THE RAT PACK, THE FAMILY MAN, SWORDFISH, MANIC, and Steven Soderbergh's films OUT OF SIGHT, TRAFFIC, OCEAN'S ELEVEN and TWELVE. These aren't all great films, but Cheadle is great in them. If you want a prime example of the power of Cheadle, go see AFTER THE SUNSET. It's a sub-par film, but Cheadle is mesmerizing in it.
With HOTEL RWANDA, Cheadle is fully the lead, playing real-life hero Paul Rusesabagina, the highest-ranking African manager at a Belgian-owned luxury hotel in Rwanda just before bloody civil war tore the country apart. Paul is a member of the Hutu tribe, a group that had long be oppressed in Rwanda by the country's other tribe, the Tutsi. But about 10 years ago, the Hutus literally started a revolution in which they killing every man, woman, and child they could get their hands on. Not all Hutus took part in the killings, but you were a Tutsi, you're life was at risk. Before the civil unrest, Paul's mission in life was to maintain the highest standards of the hotel no matter what. He cut deals with military leaders to acquire the finest food, alcohol, and cigars for his V.I.P. guests, he treats dignitaries visiting the hotel like royalty, while still being a kind and sometimes overly forgiving boss to his employees. As the first rumbling of trouble surface, peacekeepers from the United Nations arrive, led by Canadian Col. Oliver (Nick Nolte). But his hands are tied since the U.N. can't shoot unless it is being shot at, which means as long as it's not the peacekeepers getting chopped up by machetes, they can't do a thing. Although Paul himself is not in danger, his Tutsi wife and family are, so he hides them in the hotel hoping that help will eventually come and he can get them out of the country safely. The tourists have all fled, and when words spreads that the hotel is housing Tutsi refugees, hundreds more Tutsis arrive looking for protection. During this time, Rusesabagina took in more than 1000 refugees with nothing more than his reputation and his connections in Rwanda and Belgium.
HOTEL RWANDA is a harrowing story with more tension and close calls than any purely fictional film I've seen recently. Since Rusesabagina is currently touring the United States promoting this film, I'm not ruining anything by telling you his fate, which isn't to say that all of the characters we meet survive this ordeal. In his own way, Paul was like Oskar Schindler. He wasn't necessarily trying to be any great humanitarian through his actions, but the alternative would have lead to unspeakable suffering and bloodshed. Irish director- co-writer Terry George (perhaps best known for his screenplays for IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE BOXER, and HART'S WAR) handles the material to perfection, letting the story simply unfold rather than add flourishes or forced drama.
And then there's the almighty Cheadle, whose performance here is subtle, understated, but so focused and masterful that you don't even see him working. He has a quiet desperation in his eyes for most of the film that puts us right in his shoes. We know that look and we are right there with him through ever obstacle in keeping these people safe. I actually saw HOTEL RWANDA about a month ago and have been sitting with it in my head since then. There are dozens of scene I remember so vividly, like I'd seen them yesterday. And at the center of it all, is a performance by Don Cheadle that will stay with me well past award season. HOTEL RWANDA isn't splashy or melodramatic or wildly edited. Instead, it is simple, untouched perfection that tells one of the most compelling human dramas in recent memory.
Capone
