Whitaker's Oscar

Rating: Null/10 (26 February 2008)

Last King of Scotland, The (2006) *** 1/2 (out of 4) A young Scotish doctor (James McAvoy) travels to Uganda where he plans to help the poor but instead becomes the private physician to General Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker) and sees first hand what the dictator does to his own people. I went into this expecting to see a great performance in a not so good film but came out pretty satisfied all the way around. The film loses points in its final act as it tries to be something it's not, an action film but other than that I really enjoyed the movie. McAvoy does a good job carrying the majority of the film and Gillian Anderson also impressed me in her small role. The film of course belongs to Whitaker who turns in the performance of his career. I guess there could be a debate about whether he was a supporting role or a lead but either way his performance hits all the right notes. I loved the way Whitaker plays the General as a charming man even though deep down he's nothing more than a murdering scumbag. The physical presence Whitaker brings to the role allows him to be frightening even without saying a word. Each time Whitaker walks on screen you can feel the evilness of his soul yet, as I said, Whitaker also manages to make him charming and funny.