Forest Whitaker is rightly crowned.

Rating: 8/10 (6 March 2007)

Don't we all just love a dictator? Of course, if choice be had, most of us would rather not spend much of our time living under one, but it's rare to find someone who isn't just the slightest bit interested in what makes them tick; what sets them apart from the hum-drum, somewhat more benevolent, leaders of this world.
As dictators go, it's pretty much universally agreed that Uganda's General Idi Amin was up there with the very worst of them. As many as four-hundred-thousand people were killed during his time in power in the 1970s. Thousands of others were forced into exile abroad. But despite Amin's less than laudable human rights record, his life remains a fascinating subject. He was a truly eccentric, if terrifyingly brutal, figure and it's difficult to avoid being intrigued by his character.
Kevin MacDonald's adaptation of Giles Foden's novel takes us deep into Amin's world, although if you're expecting a completely faithful re-telling of the book, it's not. There is much that is different between the book and the film. It's a much more condensed treatment of the years of Amin's rule and there are a number of characters who don't make it from the pages onto the screen. But none of that's to the film's detriment. The core of the story remains the turbulent relationship between Amin and a fictional Scottish physician hired after treating the General when he's involved in a car prang involving an ill-placed cow. Together, the book and film compliment each other to provide a compelling exploration of humanity and, perhaps more significantly, inhumanity.
The doctor, Nicholas Garrigan, is played by the rightly ascendant James MacAvoy who's fast developing into one of Britain's finest young products. His character's an arrogant, self- serving type who finds himself plummeting deeper and deeper into the fetid pit of Idi Amin's rule. His very existence is a metaphor for the corrupting force that is absolute power and its amoral trappings. There is also strong support from the likes of Gillian Anderson and David Oyelowo and special mention must be made of Simon McBurney who plays Foreign Office official Nigel Stone with creepy, menacing brilliance.
While most of the supporting performances are strong, this film is almost nothing without its lead. Forest Whitaker has long deserved promotion from critically-acclaimed character actor to universally-acclaimed star of screen. With this role, that's exactly what he's achieved. He plays Idi Amin with such brilliance that it's nigh on impossible not to be both moved and frightened by his presence. He manages to bring to the screen what was so dangerously captivating about the man. It's all too easy to demonise a figure such as Amin. It's easier for us to understand how dictators succeed if we think of them as monsters. But Forest Whitaker's acting ability, coupled with intelligent writing, shows the very human side of him, and that makes him all the more terrifying. An Oscar was always likely to be his reward and couldn't be more deserved.