Sheer brilliance!

Rating: 10/10 (11 June 2007)

: A tour-de-force of a movie! Forest Whitakker simply astounds with his performance of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. He is - in a word - breathtaking. Very rarely does the academy get it right but boy, did they ever! There aren't enough words to describe the performance Mr Forest puts in. He actually becomes Idi Amin, not only does his voice change but so does his stance. He goes from a cuddly bear to terrifying despot in the space of one scene! Brilliant. The rest of the cast acquits themselves just as well, James McEvoy matching him scene for scene and Gillian Anderson (of TV's X-Files fame) virtually unrecognisable as the wife of a British doctor. Kerry Washington is the only member of the cast that disappoints,her accent being all over the place but she isn't given enough screen time for this to become a problem. The script simply crackles with dialogue and the cinematography is excellent. The only (minor) quibble is that the massacre of 300 000 people is only alluded to, but perhaps we didn't need to see it on screen, there being enough violence and gore to keep even the most bloodthirsty fan happy. "Last King of Scotland" won't appeal to everyone, but it IS a must see. My favourite movie of the year so far. My rating: 10/10 (This happens very rarely!)