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Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes of Anthony Minghella’s "The English Patient" and Steven Spielberg’s "Schindler’s List") is a lecturer and British career diplomat whose political convictions are strictly textbook ¾ all talk and no walk. When Tessa (Rachel Weisz of "Runaway Jury"), a passionate and idealistic guest at one of his rather dry, rhetorical talks, challenges him, he immediately becomes attracted to her and it’s coffee and sex coming right up. They are your classic opposites attract couple.

In flashbacks we learn from Sandy (Danny Huston of "The Aviator"), a colleague and very close friend of Justin and Tessa’s that she may have been killed on an outing with a local black doctor. Rumor has it that they were having an affair and this begins to undercut Justin’s faith in Tessa. Wanting to get at the root of Tessa’s investigation into possible immoral actions by drug companies, but more to clear her name and learn for himself what was going on in their personal life together, Justin receives an awakening to the real world. Much of what is ugly is not seen only in the slums.

Based upon the novel of the same name by John le Carre, this film is hard hitting in depicting the indifference of the West to the value of life in Third World countries, particularly in Africa. Often monetary trade is not an essential part of the relationship of the two nations. Would drug companies make desperate people sign waivers that would allow "animal testing on them" just so they can receive what they think is normal medical treatment? If so, what is the involvement of those of the upper class, such as Sir Bernard Pellegrin (Bill Nighy of "Love Actually")? Would one’s best friend stoop to blackmail for sexual favors to satisfy both his egoistic powers and his carnal appetite? What could prompt someone in a position to know to claim, "…pharmaceuticals are right up there with arms dealers." Can terrorism be defined as something other than blowing up things with bombs?

"City of God" was unrelentingly pitiless, in part because of the unknown actors, many of them young men from the streets, acting for the first time. This gave the film the feel of an edgy documentary (somewhat like "Downfall," about the last days of Hitler). "Hotel Rwanda" offered break- out roles for well known supporting actors Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo, but because the story focused on a brave romantic relationship, we were able to connect more emotionally with them than we are with Justin and Tessa. It’s easier to identify with the two lead characters in "Hotel Rwanda," as everyday people rather than a diplomat and a political activist. The key thing they all have in common is that under the right circumstance, people of good will are predisposed to make their own self-interest subservient to the greater good of mankind. It’s refreshing to understand that like the evil hidden in some people, there is good to be revealed in many more.