Don Cheadle plays Paul Rusesabagina

I think his performance really did deserve the Oscar Nomination that he got, I think the reason he and Okonedo did not win was because of the people they were up against, Jamie Foxx's role of Ray was just out of this world as was Cate Blanchet's role in the Avaitor however they were both great roles.

I don't know much about this actress, all I knew before this film was that she was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Tatiana so when I came to watching the film, I spent the whole film wondering, when is her moment, when is the moment that she shows off her amazing Oscar worthy talents and I have to say, there was none. Don Cheadle deserved the Oscar, she was good, there is no doubt about it, but it makes me laugh that performances like this which were good but not brilliant win Oscar nominations, but performances like Cate Blanchet in Benjamin Button doesn't receive a nomination.

The film is based on a real life story of Paul and Tatiana Rusesabagina, who saved countless lives in the genocide back in the day, the film is very hard to watch in places and you will find yourself quite uncomfortable however the main thing I think a director should do, is deliver a message and this film does that, the West just sat on by and lived their lives whilst this was going on, a great quote from the film comes from the brief cameo of Joaquin Phoenix and he says about the genocide in Rwanda "If people see this footage, they'll say Oh My God that's horrible and then go on eating their dinners" this adds to the emotion of the film and it is true as this is what happened back then.

For me the film would not have been as powerful as it was without the actors that became involved with the movie, for me the main man Don Cheadle is the leading star in the movie and he really made the film so powerful and so brilliant. The only other work I know that Cheadle has done is in the Oceans films and I think this topped my opinion of him tenth fold, he really manages to play the role of Paul Rusesabagina brilliantly, especially considering that he is playing a real, still alive man, he is acting the role of someone who saved countless lives and who is someone to be in awe of and he did it with such emotion and such brilliance, I was shocked when I found out he didn't win an Ocscar for his performance. I know that for his role he was helped by the real Paul Rusesabagina, and he managed to make sure that Cheadle did not play Paul to be a hero, everything he did he did for his wife and family. A fantastic actor who apparently was the directors first choice to play Rusesabagina, however the producers and writers wanted a more well known name like Will Smith to play the role of Paul, however due to money and everything else that was happening at the time, the role was given to Cheadle and rightly so, I don't think any other African American actor would have been able to pull off such a powerful role like Cheadle managed in the end.

Running Time: 121 minutes
Rating: 12
Director: Terry George
Release Date: 2004