Whitaker reigns as "Last King of Scotland"

Rating: 8/10 (8 January 2008)

Oscar deserved is about all one can say about Forest Whitaker's performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland." Whitaker commands each scene he is in, giving Amin the complex and deeply troubled personality that Amin would likely have.
The film also deserves praise on other ends. James McAvoy simply gets shadowed by Whitaker, though he clearly holds his own as the film's main character. Director Kevin Macdonald provides a lot of suspense and drama, but more notably, does an excellent job with the other scenes, conveying the time period through both the style of several of the more upbeat scenes.
Though the plot is interesting and full of strong cinematic material, it truly is Whitaker that takes it from beginning to end without making you lose one bit of interest. He takes just a solid period film and makes it a truly great one.