Gripping Docu-Drama Whittaker Steals The Show!

Rating: 8/10 (25 June 2007)

Just as the real Idi Amin could hold sway over vast audiences with only his voice, so too can Whittaker command the screen in the guise of the now infamous Ugandan despot.
Right from the start I was sucked into this film, made in what I would call The British Style. The main Character Nick Carrigan (Mr. Tumnus from Narnia) was nothing short of brilliant as the young doctor. His enthusiasm and lust for life just filled the screen.
Nicks first meeting with Amin was terrifically tense and I think a great job was done of portraying the mistrust around at the time. The quick editing and skillful direction gave the meeting its full weight, it was then I knew this was going to be a fantastic film. 2 actors and a dusty dirt track, yet it was gripping.
We see the benevolent side of Amin at the start and his attempts to improve the situation and the world view of Uganda. However even from the start Amin was already slaughtering his opponents or anyone who dare speak out against him, wholesale. It was during this first act that I realised that the Nick Carrigan character may be fictional. I am old enough to remember Amin coming to power and being exiled to the middle east at the end of the 70's, but nothing about the 'little white monkey'. No matter, if this was just a vehicle to portray the life and times of Amin, it was working well! Whittaker stole the show, a total powerhouse performance, from the hulking frame, the accent and the mood swings that turned him from a teddy bear into a monster in the blink of an eye. He was genuinely scary on screen, but you also felt for him, such is the power of Whittakers talent, his level of research into Amin and the masterful story and direction. Of note too were the sets of the time and his equally frightening death squads.
One scene really took me and it was where we see Amin playing an accordion at a party. He sits almost in a trance like state whilst slowly squeezing the instrument and captured within that short shot was in my view why Whittaker got the Oscar he so deservedly won.
My only real criticism was the over use of the zoom lens in this film. I don't know whether it was to give a news like feel but whereas it had its uses in places, I felt it becoming annoying after a while.
No special effects, no pirates no lavish sets, just a handful of quality actors, a story rooted in fact and a good production team. A truly brilliant film that kept me sucked in until the last second and left me hanging in dusty, humid, sweaty Uganda circa 1979 for days after.