Beyond The Gates

Rwanda’s raging 1994 genocide, where Hutus used machetes to kill many thousands of Tutsis, is the epicenter of a story about Joe Connor (Hugh Dancy), a young teacher at a Catholic school run by Father Christopher (John Hurt). Similarities to the superior "Hotel Rwanda" (2004) plague "Beyond The Gates" where, once again, the impotency of U.N. troops stationed in Rwanda to keep the peace, is put into high relief. In spite of heartfelt performances from John Hurt and Hugh Dancy, director Michael Caton-Jones ("Scandal") keeps an arm’s distance from his volatile subject and fails to expand on an epic tragedy that is being replicated in places like Darfur.

Rated R. 115 mins. (C+) (Three Stars)