Last King a riveting look at despotic demon

Rating: 8/10 (22 October 2006)

Whether playing a tough high school football player in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, legendary jazz musician Charlie Parker in Bird or a mafia hit-man in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Forest Whitaker has always given solid, occasionally great performances.
Yet, only with his role in The Last King of Scotland will Whitaker finally receive the respect he deserves. In his first non-documentary feature, director Kevin Macdonald gives a highly ambitious look at Ugandan dictator Idi Amin (Whitaker) through the eyes of Nicholas Garrigan, a young Scottish doctor (James McAvoy) in the 1970s.
Macdonald definitely shows his documentary roots through the use of extensive location shooting in Uganda, giving a guerrilla, authentic approach to the film. He also uses a fair amount of hand-held camera-work, grain and noticeable zooms to give this political thriller a documentary feel. The cinematographer, Anthony Dod Mantle, utilizes high-contrast, deeply saturated images of Uganda with a prevalent light brown hue.
The pacing is fast, and the style, technique, costumes and music accurately illustrate the '70s feel. When we first meet Idi Amin, he's portrayed as a humorous but intense politician who has just become Uganda's president.
However, by the end of the film, the humor is gone. We finally get to see Amin's true colors.
Whitaker brilliantly captures the intensity and brutality of Amin, while maintaining his charismatic qualities. He is so convincing, that the footage of the real Idi Amin, spliced into the end of the film, completely flows.
The screenplay, written by Jeremy Brock, Peter Morgan, and Joe Penhall, based on the novel by Giles Foden, actually focuses more on the naive Dr. Garrigan than on Amin. Garrigan would be too unlikable to care about in any other film, with his arrogance, selfishness, and ignorance. His naiveté seems appealing at first, then idiotic, and eventually completely loathsome. But what saves his character flaws is the on screen chemistry between him and Whitaker, and a strong performance by McAvoy. However, what is entirely misleading is the statement "This film is inspired by true events," as the McAvoy character is fictional.
The last half hour of the film ultimately becomes a thriller, coupled with a few scenes of absolute horror. Audiences will cringe in disgust at the violence attributed to Amin, who reportedly killed more than 300,000 Ugandans, while staying on the edge of their seats when not covering their eyes in terror.
The suspenseful final scene at the Entebbe airport provides a painful, though emotionally satisfying ending to a heavy handed film.
The Last King of Scotland is an extremely powerful film, with a commanding performance by Whitaker.