Excellent Acting by Forrest Whitaker

Rating: 9/10 (23 October 2006)

Idi Amin was a nightmare figure during his bloody tenure as ruler of Uganda, and Forrest Whitaker impressively recreates both his magnetism and his madness. The violence perpetrated by Amin's regime on his enemies, both real and imagined, mostly takes place off screen. Even so, this is a difficult film to watch, much as Hotel Rwanda was. The story line is taken from a novel, and, though it is mixed with history that anyone over the age of 50 is likely to remember, every film-goer is likely to wonder how much, if any of it, is based on actual people and events. The film concludes 48 hours prior to the Israeli raid on Entebbe which freed the remaining hostages after Amin allowed the non-Israelis and non-Jews to be flown out of the country. That's because the Israeli rescue operation is not relevant to the plot line and including it would have shifted the picture's dramatic focus. See this film for Forrest Whitaker's performance. Amin was an altogether different personality than the hotel keeper that Don Cheadle so superbly portrayed in Hotel Rwanda -- but I'm guessing that Whitaker will receive many awards at year's end for this role.