The Last White Monkey of Amin...

Rating: 7/10 (23 October 2006)

Idi Amin is one of those figures that only a handful of people know about: all I knew was that he was a ruthless dictator in the seventies of some African country who murdered thousands of his own countrymen (and women). I knew that he was African, chubby and wore a banana-republic-looking uniform with medals. And when I saw Forest Whitaker in the role of Amin, I thought that it was just uncanny and chilling. Whenever Forest was on screen, I felt almost as if I should be answering to him as well as James McAvoy's character was; as if I was standing alongside him. "The Last King of Scotland" is an independent gem of a film. Actual film footage is cleverly insinuated into parts of the film that was made on limited means (like most real good dramas are).
The premise is simple: young idealistic doctor in early seventies wants to make a difference in his life and that of others by benevolently choosing a third-world country (in this case Uganda). Sets up camp there and boards with unlucky and insignificant others until meeting rich and charismatic dictator by chance. Dictator offers him job as personal physician and adviser- is seduced by charms of the "good life". Until seeing the brutality firsthand- wants out now. Dictator makes it known to him that he cannot leave and that he is committed to his promise. Dilemma-disaster, dilemma-disaster...Perhaps this slight-of-the-numbers plot line plays out so successfully because Whittaker's overall performance as Amin that portrays him as three-dimensional, mercurial and downright scary. There is always tension after he enters the picture just by his own unpredictable presence. McAvoy is fine as the Scottish doctor in this (and will probably become the next Ewan McGregor in a few years) along with Kerry Washington (who was hardly noticeable from Spike Lee's "She Hate Me") and Gillian Anderson (whom I hardly recognized as well until she gave that Dana Scully-stare in certain shots- I'm not sure if she ages well, but her beauty still seemed to be intact). A very well-made film that combines the ubiquitous actual events with fiction (although I read that Amin actually did have a Scottish doctor at one time) and Amin's unpopular international opinion is cleverly ingratiated through the protagonist by the end of the film.
Whether you are a history buff or not, Forest Whitaker's performance makes the film worth watching on its own. I am surprised to see that Whitaker has been nominated for Best Actor this year (and I think he deserves the Oscar over someone like, oh- let me think- "Leonardo DiCaprio." This motion picture leaves you with a more powerful impression since Uganda was only addressed in a paragraph or two in the newspapers back in the seventies and early eighties. This is a film that will leave one feeling more appreciative that they live in a country unlike Uganda or Somalia where constant violence and revolution is commonplace and people like Amin are a dime-a-dozen.