I want to see "Venus" first

Rating: Null/10 (26 June 2007)

I grabbed the DVD the moment I saw it on the shelf of the store and watched it at the first opportunity - wouldn't want to miss this year's Best Actor whose wins are almost (but not quite) as overwhelming as Helen Mirren's.
The movie is not entirely as I expected. Despite what some critics had me believing, the mood of the movie is light (almost jovial) way past the first half, and it's only in the last 15 minutes of the two-hour movie when the blood-chilling images appear. Indeed, in the end credits, the audience is shown the monstrosity of the dictator whom many consider insane. But throughout most of the movie, he is portrayed in a sympathetic manner. Strangely, this movie reminds me of Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette". Marie Antoinette denies having said "Let them eat cake" in almost the same breath as Idi Amin denies having practiced cannibalism - so the movies show, without either confirming or disproving what has been said.
A role like Idi Amin provides the portrayer great opportunities to shine, and Forest Whitaker has certainly risen to the occasion. However, I shall reserve judgment of whether he deserves this year's Oscar until I have seen Peter O'Toole in "Venus".