Hotel Rwanda

I know, Hotel Rwanda is not exactly the cheeriest movie to go see on your anniversary, but we decided it was time to see a "grown-up" movie. Our usual diet of movies is whatever Disney movie is out at the time (last week being the Heffalump movie).

This movie is amazing. For all of us who get so caught up in the importance of our own lives (kinda like me writing this blog ... he-he), this is a wakeup call. It tells the true story of Paul Rusesabagina. In 1994, the whole world ignored the genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus in Rwanda. The U.S., fresh off the ambush in Mogadishu, Somalia (as immortalized in Black Hawk Down), was reluctant to intervene in the world's other hotspots. Rusesabagina, through his position as the manager of an upscale hotel in Rwanda, was able to save 1268 lives.

Don Cheadle's performance in the title role is fantastic as is the actress who plays his wife. Joaquin Phoenix and Nick Nolte are great in small supporting roles. The movies that Hotel Rwanda most reminded me of were Schindler's List and The Killing Fields (two of my all-time favorites). I highly recommend Hotel Rwanda.

I'll review Million Dollar Baby and The Aviator in future posts.