Customer Reviews

The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition)

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3 star:		(33)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Before going any further, let's be upfront about what "The Last King of Scotland" is. It is essentially a fictional thriller, with a political/historical backdrop. With Forest Whitaker's highly touted performance as real-life Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, it may be natural to assume that the film is biographical in nature, but it is not. While many of the events portrayed within the film are based on actual incidents, the primary story involving Amin's white Scottish doctor (James McAvoy who is the actual lead performance) is a complete work of fiction by "Scotland" novelist Giles Foden. Interestingly enough, the original conception for this character was loosely based on the valet from Moliere's "Don Juan"--but he was promoted to a doctor, in this story, to generate more compelling ethical questions. With that clarification in place, "The Last King of Scotland" is one heck of a ride--it is a riveting thriller that also manages to provide relevant insight into the complexity of Amin's private and public personas.

The story framework and basic setup is not unfamiliar, we've seen it in many other genres--from political films, financial thrillers, corrupt cop stories, mob portraits, and even in supernatural hokum. Basically, an ambitious young man is seduced by wealth and power. Falling under the spell of an engaging mentor, he buys into the glorious lifestyle that he has always dreamed of--sacrificing a bit of himself, and making some moral compromises, in the process. Ultimately, though, the situation gets out of hand, but it may be too late. He is now complicit in the same crimes he wishes to extricate himself from. In this case, McAvoy plays a Scottish medic who arrives in Uganda, on impulse, to "make a difference." As Amin is rising to power, McAvoy gets caught up in public sentiment and a chance meeting brings doctor and dictator together. Amin is fascinated by the young man's brash and bold nature, and the doctor is enthralled by Amin's power and charm. Forming a strong initial bond, things soon start unraveling as Amin's real nature starts to become more clear.

The power of "Last King" comes from the fact that this bond, this relationship, is actually quite believable. You understand what would bring these two men together, and ultimately what would drive them apart. Credit the screenplay for these interactions, but it's also the actors who breathe life into a great story. Forest Whitaker, having won 1042 acting prizes for this role (OK, maybe not quite that many), is indeed phenomenal as Amin. Expertly capturing both his charm and his dangerous paranoia, it is a spot-on recreation of a man who loved the limelight. If you aren't familiar with the actual Amin, check out Barbet's Schroeder's documentary "General Idi Amin Dada" (available from Criterion) to see just how astute his portrait is. McAvoy, who some find less convincing, is actually the dramatic center of the film, however. It is his evolution from callow youth to coconspirator to victim that the film revolves around. I, for one, thought he brought a lot to the role. His casual indifference and moral ambiguity heighten this tale--it's not just a routine good versus evil story.

Anyway, with great performances, realistic action sequences, and a tight script--I really enjoyed "Last King." It was a thriller that I found to be genuinely thrilling, and the Ugandan backdrop is portrayed perfectly. At times harrowing and brutal, this bit of fiction succeeds not only as rousing entertainment, but as a relevant historical portrait as well. KGHarris, 02/07.

Jeremy Brock, who is a television writer, wrote a fine script a few years ago for the film "Mrs. Brown", a tale of Queen Victoria, starring Dame Judi Dench. Brock gets another chance to deliver in his work with "The Last King of Scotland". This time his director is Kevin MacDonald. MacDonald has not yet found fame, but his 1999 documentary, "One Day in September", about the killings at the 1972 Munich Olympics put Spielberg's "Munich" to shame. MacDonald uses a semi-documentary style in creating the arresting film that is "The Last King of Scotland". So, too, like "Mrs. Brown", is the film made memorable by a performance so compelling it will be the stuff of legends, and an arresting supporting performance. "The Last King", which saw limited release, came back to many American theaters in the past month as a tribute to the Golden Globe and the newly won Oscar by Forest Whitaker for his role as Amin. In his shadow is a fine performance from James McAvoy as the FICTIONAL, callow Dr. Garrigan, the personal doctor to Amin.


Dr. Garrigan meets Amin just as he comes into power, and quite by accident, is connected to the arresting Amin who loves all things Scottish. In 1971, at the time the movie begins, Amin overthrew then dictator Obote in a coup that was lauded both in Uganda and abroad. Obote supporters persisted in Uganda and Tanzania, attempting to assassinate Amin more than once. Amin quickly morphed from a benevolent commander of what he envisioned as a democratic, western-type rule, to a treacherous paranoid. Ethnic violence resulted in a wave of tortures and assassinations throughout the country. Amin turned on the country's Asian (mainly Indian) population and cast out Hindus, Muslims and Jews. He looted their businesses.

Aligning himself with Muammar al-Qaddafi, the Soviet Union and the PLO, Amin was shunned by the British government and the foreign press. His behavior became more and more unhinged as he attempted to keep close to the customs he had once revered by dressing in Scottish garb, throwing fetes with Scottish themes, and finally resorting to costumes of all kinds. In 1976, PLO supporters hijacked a French plane and 256 hostages were held at Entebbe, on the ground in Uganda. Amin visited the hostages and finally brokered the release of all but Israelis and Jews. Israel launched a rescue, which has been featured many times on film and in books, which freed all but one of the hostages, and 3 which had been killed by Ugandans under Amin's auspices. The world shunned Amin, and the knowledge of his practices of genocide (estimates of Ugandan's killed in the 8 years of his regime range from 80,000 to 300,00) became known. All charm and pretense disappeared in his last years, and his increasing paranoia and illness rendered him a monster. He was driven into exile by Tanzanian-Ugandan forces in 1979.

In the film, against this backdrop comes the story of Amin's friendship and leverage on young Dr. Garrigan, who initially is blinded by the charm that Amin exhibits, and who slowly comes face to face with his erratic behavior and the personal threat that Amin poses to the Doctor. The film take us through Garrigan's early denials, and later to his bleak despair, unmindful affair with one of Amin's wives, and his eventual torture. It culminates in the scene at Entebbe, with the world watching.

While the relationship deteriorates, the viewer is fascinated with Whitaker's captivating leadership and vision for a bright future for Uganda. He's persuasive, confident, and exudes charm and intelligence. He yells and shows his anger and penchant for violence with no remorse. Contrarily, he's childlike in his delight for things. He's a man for all seasons and Whitaker, with his powerful physique and a voice he is said to have taken lessons to enhance, is perfect for the role. As paranoia, greed and fame set in, Whitaker dissembles into the real Amin - his eyes twitch, adrenaline makes him shudder and lope, he generates an aura of danger and unpredictability that has seldom been seen on the screen before. He IS Amin. McAvoy plays him off with the dawning realization of the danger his is in and his need to placate the man, while continuing to make reckless decisions that will eventually cause Amin to turn on him.

Surrounded by the scenic beauty of the real Uganda, the red earth, the air that shimmers, the lushness of the territory and the beauty and terror of her people, Whitaker takes the film to a stunning and brutal conclusion that leaves you shaking in your seat.

There are some editing flaws, notably in Whitaker's action scenes, some decisions made by the director that make the film sometimes a documentary, sometimes a feature. Ultimately the film is not great, just grand. And Whitaker, who has given us legendary work before in "The Crying Game" and "Bird",( and a 20 year career of dedication to acting as a craft) deserved every award he received this season.

A fascinating film, sure to be a popular DVD.

MOVIE: Nicholas Garrigan is a free spirit young man who has just finished med school and is aching to get away from his parents. He spins the plastic globe in his room and lands his finger on Uganda. The movie jumps right there as he travels to a missionary to be a volunteer doctor. From the opening credits and his actions with Sarah Merrit (Gillian Anderson) at the missionary we can see that this character is immature and just looking for a fun way to live.

One day he is stopped by the President's army because apparently the President is in need of a doctor. He drives up to find the President standing next to his car in the ditch and a dying longhorn bull laying on the side of the road. A giant deal is made over a simply bruised hand and during the chaos Nicholas takes the President's gun and puts the screaming animal out of its misery. I suppose it was the strength that Nicholas demonstrated then and there that appealed to Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker). From that point on a new friendship is made as Amin takes Nicholas under his wing to be his personal physician. Nicholas is reluctant at first to accept the offer because he knows that the missionary is in need of his help much more than the charming dictator. Of course we can't forget that Nicholas wants to live the good life, and he cannot resist all that Amin offers him. He cannot resist temptation and gives in, practically selling his soul to the devil if you will. From that point things begin to escalate and Nicholas sees what Amin truly is, and that is a power hungry murderer.

The story itself is an easy one to follow, and we immediately connect and relate to the main characters. Director Kevin Macdonald gets us acquainted with Nicholas and Amin, so we sort of open up as an audience to them. We follow Nicholas' journey in that we accept Idi Amin as a fun loving and passionate leader. But as the story moves along we as an audience move away from both Nicholas and Amin. Nicholas's fatal flaw as a character is greed since he is easily tempted with material goods and the promises of fame and fortune, not to mention sexual temptation with one of the many wives of Amin. We begin to pity him for the moral mistakes he makes, but deep in our hearts we want him to survive because he was truly taken advantage of by a powerful figure. Paradise soon becomes hell, and a struggle to escape the closing grasp of darkness begins. The only flaw of the film was in its structure. Things move really quickly, it's a fast paced film, but I would have liked to linger a bit more with Nicholas' character at the missionary. I felt we jumped in way too fast, and the entire timeline of Idi Amin's reign felt like it occurred over a week. The film's events felt consecutive which made it feel like the entire film happened in a month, yet in actuality the timeline spans from 1971 to 1979.

ACTING: Forest Whitaker gives the best performance of his career. You will not see such a captivating and authentic example of acting anywhere else. Will he win the Oscar? If it were up to me he would, but it's been hard to predict the Oscars the past few years. Now, I could go on and on about Forest Whitaker's performance, but then that would be injust to James McAvory. McAvory was introduced to American audiences last year when he played Mr. Tumnus in The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. In this film he sells the character completely and makes him very accessible. His change of character once he figures out deep of a hole he has dug himself in is perfect for the film, and he gives an equally good performance as Whitaker. Fine acting from the two, very fine.

BOTTOM LINE: Structural problems are minor and don't hinder the film enough to hurt its impact, the film is intense and captivating. It will be a politcal portrait that will be remembered for years to come.

A funny thing happened to me after I finished a screening of "The Last King of Scotland," I thought about the Iraq war. I thought of the war because here is a movie about a dictator, who got the people of his country on his side, took over the country, and then caused great misery throughout his country. Saddam was a monster, but to many Iraqi's he was a man for the people before he went crazy on them. "The Last King of Scotland" revolves around Nicholas Garrigan, the son of a wealthy doctor in Scotland who just received his own doctor's degree. He's supposed to go into the family business with dear old dad, but feels he is called somewhere else, and ends up in Ugandan, Africa. Nicholas has come to Ugandan during a time where Ugandan is about to become a republic, under the leadership of their new president Idi Amin.

Nicholas hears Amin speak at a rally, and falls in love with the guy. Here's a leader who's charming, funny, and good with kids. When Nicholas meets Amin, he is pleased to discover that Amin takes a liking to Nicholas too. So much so, that Amin makes Nicholas his personal doctor and eventually his personal advisor. Nicholas gets treated like royalty by Amin, and feels proud to be contributing to Ugandans' bright future. However, as time goes on, Amin starts showing signs that he is not the giant teddy bear he appears to be. After a couple of Amin's men question his true intentions, the men disappear. A British journalist tells Nicholas to keep an eye on Amin, claimed that Amin had not only killed hundreds of people, but that "they are getting very sloppy too. They aren't bothering digging graves anymore, choosing to just feed most people to the crocodiles."

As the movie goes on, we too start to worry about Amin's sanity. We see more and more of his outbursts, and when Nicholas requests to go home, Amin gives him a cold stare that shot daggers into my heart. It's at this point Nicholas realizes what a dangerous man Amin really is, and watching the movie from an audience perspective, we suspect that it could be too late for Nicholas to get out of the situation he has gotten himself into. Nicholas Garrigan is played by James McAvoy, who is best known as Mr. Tumnus the Faun in "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe," and he gives a star making performance in this movie. While we see the signs way in advance that Nicholas may be getting too close and personal with a dangerous man, we can't deny that he's living a good lifestyle. With the eagerness of a kid owning his first car, McAvoy goes through the perfect notions of someone who is treated like a king himself, before he realizes the danger he might be in.

Gillian Anderson, who has a minor role as Dr. Sarah Merrit, warns Nicholas that Amin might not be as nice as he seems, and halfway through the movie, we'll discover that she was right. The star of the movie though is Forrest Whitaker as the murderous Idi Amin. With a thick accent, playful modes, and terrifying moments where the character is raving like a madman, Whitaker will most likely win the Academy Award for Best Actor come Oscar time. While Whitaker's character is only in about two-thirds of the movie, his presence is larger then life, and is one of those truly memorable performances that will linger in your mind years after the movie has faded from your memory. What we ultimately have with "The Last King of Scotland" is the story of a man who could have been a true leader, but chose the path of a dictator.

Many murderous dictators exist in the world today, and like Idi Amin, they too most likely charmed their countrymen until they got into power, where their true colors came to light. I warn you now, this is not a movie you will go to see for entertainment. Oh sure, the first half of the film has you smiling quite a bit, but the final hour is grim, dark, and there is at least one torture scene that is the most graphic torture scene I've seen since Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ." Most people will not want to finish "The Last King of Scotland," or even want to see it in the first place, but it is a fascinating historical piece that reminds us of how lucky we are to live in America, or any free country, away from dictators like Idi Amin.

The portrayal of Idi Amin is right on. His violent outbursts, followed by periods of normalcy, including immense cruelty and apparent irrationality are just what he was, as described in the media at the time.

What is puzzling is why a young doctor had to be invented for the movie. This fellow, just having graduated from medical school, would be intelligent enough, one would think, not to spend his career in a country he picked blindfolded, sticking a pin in a map. And was Amin's personality so warped that he would have entrusted state decisions, and the welfare of his family, to such a person. And the Doctor was shown as incredibly naive, in [...] a colleague, in his personal affairs . . it didn't make sense.

The Ugandans are not portrayed very well. They rallied for Amin's predecessor, were overjoyed when he was overthrown by Amin, rallied for Amin, and then were overjoyed again when Amin was gone. When Amin said to the Doctor . . what do you think . . that we are children that who you can come and play with . . the movie confirms it. These people are shown to be as children, and the Doctor does seem to be there to play his own ego games with them.

Excellent acting by Whitaker, but the rest of the movie falls short.

Forest Whitaker has long been one of Hollywood's most underrated treasures. But his portrayal of Uganda's famously violent leader Idi Amin, may have forever changed his status. Right down to the insanity visible in his eyes, Whitaker takes us on an unforgettable ride of treachery. James McAvoy is equally compelling as the young Dr. Nicholas Garrigan, who is quickly seduced by power and lust. Gillian Anderson and Kerry Washington both render subtle, yet potent portrayals of the romantically starved wives of important and powerful men respectively. This high praise is issued however with a caveat. While the film was a fictionalized version of events during Amin's reign, its grainy texture gives it at times, a documentary like feel. Nonetheless, Whitaker kills in this riveting story of the corrupting seduction of power and its trappings.

Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan (McAvoy) leaves Scotland after his graduation to get away from his father. He goes to Uganda around the time that a military coup puts General Idi Amin (Whitaker) in charge of the country. When Amin is injured in a car accident, Nicholas treats him. Amin likes Nicholas and offers him a position as personal physician to the President. He accepts, and soon finds that although Amin is personable and charismatic, he is also paranoid and brutal. This is further complicated by Nicholas having an affair with Amin's third wife (Washington). With each passing day, Amin becomes more unstable, and Nicholas finds that he cannot escape.

"The Last King of Scotland" is an excellent film. The two leads, Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy deliver standout performances. They hype for Whitaker in this movie is well deserved. It is a shame that McAvoy has not garnered similar praise. This film offers a look into how the charismatic Amin became one of Africa's most vicious dictators. I highly recommend this film.

This is truly an outstanding movie and Forest Whitaker clearly deserves the acclaim he is receiving from his oscar worthy performance of Idi Amin. James McAvoy playing the doctor also did an outstanding job but is not receiving the attention he deserves but in the end this is a two man show that really just skims the surface of the characters as well as the times. Only the two lead characters develop any depth and all of the other actors are little more than props. Nevertheless the film is beautiful and a pleasure to watch. In many ways this is a morality play that shows how the young doctor-- like most young men -- longs for excitement and desires to see exotic places and do exciting things, but pays for his naivete`. We find him in Uganda caring for the poor, which he wanted to do, but he is very quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of them, the long hours, and the lack of progress. Doing good seems to be a lot less fun than he expected and the isolation as well as the work pall. Through some very believeable happenstances he is suddenly thrust into luxury surrounding the military dictator Amin. Thus begins the doctor's transition from callow youth seeking fun and excitement into trusted confident, then into co-conspirator, and finally just another victim of the dictator's paranoia. There are several lessons delivered by this film. The first quite obviously is to be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. But it also teaches you to be careful how you treat others because you may find that you need them later on. The gratuitous insults hurled by the doctor at the British diplomats come back to haunt him in full measure. Then we see Idi Amin who is both charming and paranoid because like Richard III when you seize power by force you can never relax or trust anyone. So Amin sinks into paranoia and distrust and he begins to eliminate all suspected of disloyalty. He trusts no one including the doctor and surrounds himself with thugs willing to kill and torture for him-- but this is the fate of all dictators from Tiberias to Stalin to Amin. Eventually they live in fear and rule by fear.

I really enjoyed this film and the characters were quite believable. Whitaker IS Amin -- it is hard to realize that he just acting. However, as powerful as his performance was I thought Dicaprio's performance in the Departed was better. Plus I thought Whitaker's role was more of a supporting role. Nevertheless this is an outstanding film and McAvoy and Whitaker deserve all of the kudo's they are getting.

I was overjoyed to see one of my favorite and underappreciated actors, Forest Whitaker, win Best Actor for this film as it rare for African-American actors to get juicy complex roles like this one. This film is nothing less than riveting from beginning to end. ALL actors absolutely shine in this film, including a wonderfully and surprisingly understated performance by the nearly unrecognizable Gillian Anderson (Scully on X-Files) as a Britsh missionary. The writing is tight with no scenes or dialogue as "filler." In addtion, the direction is crisp and confident.

While the historical background is fairly accurate, the story itself is fiction and was done to provide a means for the audience to get a supposedly "inside" look to this horrific, yet charming dictator and on that level and with those intentions this film succeeds. Some of the specific brutality we see in this film (hanging people by hooks and dismemberment) committed by Gen. Amin is fictionalized so that we get an impression of the real crimes he committed against his own people. This is admittedly exercising artistic license, but it's handled well and, I think, appropriately.

This is a haunting film that you soon won't forget experiencing and I do mean it's an experience.

As Africa does, this movie draws you in with the laughter of the African children, the villages and the music of the land. You are in fact a little charmed by the humorous and lovable president who befriends a doctor from Scotland. Yes, it's different from what is expected and Idi Amin in context is humanized with all his unexpected amicable characteristics.

Though all of Amin's foibles are uncovered in this movie as well ofcourse, he's not made out to be the malicious dictator that many of us understood him to be.

The movie does not focus on the Asian expulsion as I thought it would. I went to watch it for the sake of many of my distant relatives who had been extradited during the era but what I saw was a lot different from what I expected. Surprisingly, in regard to forcing the Indians to leave, Amin neither calculates nor fathoms the repercussions of that decision and it was by no means the main focus of his rule. Watch it to understand his state of mind at the time. There were many other ongoing fields of corruption throughout the country.

The angle taken focuses on the relationship between Idi Amin and his doctor come advisor Nicholas Garrigan. Forest Whitaker does a phenomenal job of assuming Amin's identity and understanding his neurotic and fickle nature. His performance is breathtaking as he even gets the African eh's and ah's right. This was the first time I have been so impressed by an actor - just beautiful acting!

All in all, the movie is produced quite well and the political corruption which infests that society is exposed in a very clever and real manner.