Top notch performances for an overall good movie

Rating: 9/10 (30 June 2011)

I have read other reviews before posting mine, out of curiosity and find really interesting the various takes people have on this movie.
Obviously, depending on what you were expecting from the movie, your take on it is very different, some wanted to watch the real story about Amin Dada, some others wanted to see Uganda as it was, etc.
I, for myself, didn't expect anything. My knowledge about Idi Amin and Uganda were almost non-existent, so I guess this is one of the reason I I liked it so much.
First and foremost, the performance of Forrest Whitaker is just mind-blowing and I really don't think I robbed the Oscar he received for it. Not only his ability to mimic Amin quirks and body language, but the easiness with which he can switch from charming/funny to downright scary and insane are just incredibly impressive.
That being said, James McAvoy delivers an incredible performance with a very difficult part, IMO. Nicholas Garrigan is no hero, he is just a somewhat cocky and arrogant Scotsman who came to Uganda not for humanitarian reasons, but to escape his Scottish life and dad. Many critics have been made about this character, but it is for me one of the strength of the story. We are not following a hero here, but a protagonist, a normal human guy, with his flaws, his mistakes, and the consequences he faces for his wrong choices and his refusal to face the truth. McAcvoy excels here and conveys superbly the gradual realization of Garrigan of the horrors Amin is responsible of and the trap he has been set up in. It was a really difficult role to play, and it's a pity his work is not more praised, obviously overshadowed by the showier role of Amin.
Gillian Anderson and Kerry Washington give also good performances, despite a questionable use of their characters.
Now, as for Garrigan, I found him really representative of the Western civilization and its relationship with Africa, in the sense that Western people are more than ready to come and take whatever they can from Africa, but will easily turn their eyes when faced with the abrupt reality of the living conditions and the horror these people experience there. The movie depicts it really well through Garrigan's eyes, and I appreciated it profoundly.
There are two specifically violent scenes, very graphic, but the horror the film displays is more subtle and diffuse little by little until the end scenes with a great climax.
The only flaw for me are the useless subplots involving Garrigan's love life, that give too much a "Hollywood" tone to an otherwise great movie.