Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Rating: 8/10 (27 May 2017)

**NO SPOILERS** This movie is a fictionalized, biopic period piece about Idi Amin, an African military despot who came to power in Uganda in the early '70's, who then quickly starts an undeniable, almost unfathomably, reign of terror. I was in High School when the real Idi Amin came into power, and remember well the news reports of the mass killings, torture and mutilations, and the political decay of the country due to his corrupt regime. The direction is adequate, cinematography and art direction good, decent script and a plot that moves along without any real hiccups. The movie is a 7 that gets upgraded to an 8 on the power of Forest Whitaker's Oscar winning performance. I liked this movie a lot in 2006(and just bought it on Blu-Ray)on the large screen , in spite of James McAvoy- the fictional Dr. Garrigan, who smiles his way through 95% of the movie, and even looks high on something in a number of scenes. Unfortunately, this was a poor casting job in my opinion, and McAvoy at times is distracting. They hit a home-run with Forest and supporting cast, and fouled out to the catcher with McAvoy. My dislike of McAvoy has been reaffirmed with his overplayed part in the X-Men series. That said, this is a movie worth watching if only to see a great actor in a perfect roll to highlight his skills, and see an Oscar worthy performance. Even knowing the real history behind the man, the story creates some tension as to when his diabolical side would come out. Considering Whitaker's body of work(The Crying Game, Ghost Dog, Panic Room and some great TV roles) I'm somewhat surprised he hasn't taken home more than this one Best Actor statue. Who knows, he is a very busy actor, and still has time to bag another one. Check this movie out if you haven't seen it yet, and yes the "R" rating is well deserved- definitely not for the kiddies.