"It's a funny thing being taken under the wings of a dragon  it's warmer than you think."

Rating: 7/10 (11 February 2007)

The above quote is not from "The Last King of Scotland", but from "Gangs of New York" as said by Leonardo DiCaprio  but it might as well be, for doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) experiences the same deceitful tour into the African elite. It starts with mafia-like showering of gifts and status under the great dictator and ends in political world of kidnapping, mass-murder and torture. "The Last King of Scotland" is a nuanced, well-told portrait of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin from the naive perspective of his personal physician.
James McAvoy captures the idealist nature of his newly-examined physician with apt conviction. Back in dreary Scotland he spins the globe and lands his finger first on Canada, says "Eh" and decides to spin it again, this time ending up in Uganda. Cut to Nicholas riding on a loud bus in Africa and meeting the joyous, colourful Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker). As the film progresses, he has trapped himself in a self-spun cocoon of complex love stories, political questions and lavish gifts and suffers moral qualms accordingly.
Although in screen time and narrative the film centres on our doctor, the film is not about Nicholas Garrigan. Indeed, the BAFTAs deemed James McAvoy 'supporting', and Forest Whitaker 'leading' as have most awarding bodies. Whitaker's inventive, bold and off-colour performance is primed to pick up awards and almost certainly also the big one with the Academy. As Idi Amin, he is an entertainer, dictator, mass-murderer, torturer, husband, father and bully all rolled into one and all operating seamlessly within the same large, intimidating man. The result is unspeakably captivating and the walleyed Whitaker brings unusual baggage to the complex character, creating a fully-fledged artist.
"The Last King of Scotland" is shot on location with beautifully picturesque pastel-tinted African dance parties in one end and starving children and torture chambers in the others, inspired by true events and wholly grounded in reality, especially by including montages of live action footage and news paper articles on Amin's gruesome practices. Yet the film does not feel entirely realistic. The main problem is the hackneyed extra-template love-story between Nicholas and someone close to Idi Amin and predictably, it has severe implications. This feels quite redundant in the otherwise compelling film. All in all, however, Kevin Macdonald's "The Last King of Scotland" is a fine 2006 addition.
7.5 out of 10