obvious", she praised individual cinematic elements that made the film unique, such as "the revelation of a dark, bumpy road paved with thousands of corpses. Or in a little girl's heartwrenching plea, 'Please don't let them kill me. I promise I won't be Tutsi anymore'." She concluded her review with Cheadle's noteworthy performance, stating he gave "one of the best performances (if not the best) of last year—an Oscar-worthy portrait of a man who kept his head clear and his humanity intact in the midst of a man-made hell." Similarly, David Ansen wrote in Newsweek that "two performances carry the film. Cheadle, in his richest role since Devil in a Blue Dress, burrows deep inside this complex man, who discovers in himself a strength he never knew he possessed, as he faces the disillusionment of all the "civilized" notions he believes in. As his strong, committed wife, Tatiana, Sophie Okonedo, barely resembling the saucy hooker she played in Dirty Pretty Things, is a revelation." However, in the Arizona Daily Star, Phil Villarreal was not moved by the lead acting of Cheadle or Nolte. He thought the characters were "cardboardish" and stated the "uplifting moments of rescue seem antiseptic and set up." Critic Leonard Maltin wrote that Hotel Rwanda was a "powerful film" that he thought avoided being "overly didactic by focusing on one compelling character, believably brought to life by Cheadle." In Reel Power: Hollywood Cinema and American Supremacy, drawing on the work of journalist Keith Harmon Snow and writer Edward S. Herman, author Matthew Alford called the film "sensitive, humane and powerful" but noted that it was "striking how the history of bloodshed has been spun in line with Western interests". Top 10 lists Hotel Rwanda was listed on many critics' top ten lists for 2004. 1st – Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper 3rd – Claudia Puig, USA Today 3rd – Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com 6th – Ruthie Stein, San Francisco Chronicle 8th – Lawrence Toppman, Salon.com 8th – Mick LaSalle & Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle 9th – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times 10th – Desson Thomson, Washington Post 10th – Lawrence Toppman, Charlotte Observer Top 10 (listed alphabetically) – Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer Top 10 (listed alphabetically) – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times Accolades The film was nominated and won several awards in 2004–2006. Various critics included the film on their lists of the top 10 best films of