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Reviews Counted:59
Fresh:49
Rotten:10
Average Rating:7.2/10
Consensus: Complex, human characters and on-location shooting give Beyond the Gates palpable tension and urgency.
Theatrical Release:Mar 9, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: Joe Connor has come to teach in Rwanda because he believes he can make a difference. When the school becomes a haven for thousands of Rwandans fleeing the genocide, Joe promises his brightest... [More]
Starring: John Hurt, Hugh Dancy, Dominique Horwitz, Nicola Walker
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Caton-Jones orchestrates the spiralling violence with considerable dexterity, revealing a keen understanding of how, in the wrong circumstances, human beings can and do inflict the most barbaric cruelties upon one another.
A gripping, terrifying, profoundly touching human drama that's definitely worth seeing.
History tells us there was no happy ending in Rwanda, and "Shooting Dogs" is not an easy picture to watc
at its center is a core of bitter outrage that will leave at least some viewers in stunned, heart-stopping dismay by the time the lights go up
It simply presents, and assumes that we have the inherent morality to understand that what we are watching is evil.
Despite a true story that generates powerful feelings of rage and insult, and for all its worthy intentions, the film lacks a dramatic craftsman to make it fully engaging.
Where Hotel Rwanda was slick and professional, Shooting Dogs is both more earnest and more awkward.
A compelling drama about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the moral heroism of a compassionate priest.
One of the most remarkable things about Beyond the Gates is its refreshingly positive view of the role that faith can play even in the darkest of times.
An intense and gripping drama that makes you realize that this page in Rwandan history deserves to be told more than once, lest history forget.
Earthier and more rough-edged than Hotel Rwanda
Director Michael Caton-Jones doesn't go for obvious pathos or simple outrage. He approaches the picture's theme with a documentary realism that, scene by scene, heightens the drama.
Tense and gut-wrenching, Beyond the Gates is a horrifying story told with grace and compassion.
Top CriticTreads similar territory as Hotel Rwanda but successfully fills-in the blanks. A fine and welcome addition to the recent wave of African dramas.
Shooting Dogs falls into the trap of filtering an inherently African story through the eyes of a noble white protagonist.
Top CriticCaton-Jones' dramatization of an all-too-real story carries an authenticity that often makes it difficult to bear, particularly when one considers that much the same thing is now occurring in the Sudan.
There's a fine performance from John Hurt as a Catholic priest who gives shelter to fugitives in his school, and at the end we're introduced to various survivors of the tragedy who worked on the film.
The movie does suggest that Joe's ignorance and sense of privilege, however honorable his intentions, make a dangerous combination.
This depressing if worthy drama can only really scratch the surface of a tragedy that remains unfathomable both for its savagery and for the sheer indifference of the outside world.
By dodging cultural and political specifics in favor of a thriller-lite framework Beyond the Gates ends up serving largely as a tribute to the virtues of hindsight.
August 06, 2009:
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September 18, 2007:
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April 26, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review 
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March 08, 2007:
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