Austin Movie Show Reviews (brutal but brilliant)

Rating: 9/10 (21 October 2006)

Yes, everything you've heard about Forest Whitaker's career-defining role as former Ugandan president/dictator Idi Amin is true. The Oscar is in the bag. But let me be the first to tell you that his co-star James McAvoy (playing a young Scottish doctor who becomes the president's personal physician) is a scene-stealer as well. McAvoy's character, Nicholas Garrigan, comes to Africa with the most unselfish intentions possible but is lucky to leave with his life. His charm and appeal, however, never fades.
"The Last King of Scotland" is about more than a murderous African dictator or another African genocide. It's about the long and short-term affects of colonialism. The British Empire had the biggest hand in carving up the continent of Africa in the 19th century, and British weapons and funds put Amin in power in 1970, so how much really changed in a hundred years? It's terrifying, grotesque, and haunting, but there are unexpected moments of comedy and humanity, and come Oscar season, you're going to wish you saw that film that everyone will be talking about.