Powerful acting, powerful true story, powerful movie

Rating: 9/10 (10 March 2007)

I went into "The Last King of Scotland" expecting a great performance by Forest Whitaker and not much else. After all, that's what all the reviews by the professional critics said. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised.
Based on the novel by Giles Foden, the film follows the adventures of Dr. Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) from the time he graduates from medical school through his entire stay in Uganda. Initially, he is offered a partnership in his father's medical practice, but he rejects it and instead decides to practice medicine somewhere exotic. He chooses Uganda by spinning a globe and randomly stopping his finger there.
Once there, we see that he is little more than a self-centered womanizer, out to have a good time and not much more. One day--with nothing better to do--he attends a speech by General Idi Amin (Whitaker), who has just seized the presidency in a coup. Amin is articulate, charismatic, playful, and exactly the sort of guy you want to be your friend. Not long after the speech, Garrigan is summoned to help Amin, who has hurt his hand in a car wreck. While Garrigan is treating Amin, he is too wrapped up in himself and too distracted by the bleating of a dying cow to notice that everyone is afraid of Amin. When he seizes Amin's gun to shoot the cow, he takes no notice that he nearly signed his own death warrant. When Amin learns that Garrigan is Scottish, he turns on the same electric charm and winning smile that he used during the speech, as Amin has a love for all things Scottish (except red hair). Impressed by Garrigan's lack of fear, Amin invites him to be his personal physician and adviser. At first, Garrigan rejects Amin's offer, but eventually Amin wins him over by playing on his egotism and lust for women.
And only after accepting the position does Garrigan see the real Amin: a paranoid, sadistic despot who murders his political rivals and personally oversees the tortures of those closest to him whom he suspects of treason. At first, Garrigan is in denial. After all, the British human rights advocate who first tells him what Amin is really all about (Simon McBurney) has a slimy personality, and is a little too fond of a cloak-and-dagger style of talking. But once he befriends Amin's neglected wife Kay (Kerry Washington), he comes to realize that he will never be allowed to tender his resignation or leave Amin's side without risking his life.
Mention must now be made of Forest Whitaker's performance. He is quite simply electric. He laughs, howls, sweats and charms with enough gusto to put Charlton Heston, Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino to shame. Also, I think there may have been some slight electronic trickery in the sound department, because Whitaker's voice echoed whenever he spoke, but none of the other actors' did. But never once did I get the feeling that he was overacting, or even that this was Forest Whitaker playing a part. I really thought that I was watching the late African dictator whose name has become a synonym for "insane tyrant". Perhaps this is because most of Whitaker's other roles are of easy-going types, but I imagine that it's more because he's just that good.
Also, I have noticed that when Kerry Washington plays a married woman, the actor playing her husband wins an Oscar for the role (i.e. Jamie Foxx in "Ray"). I doubt this is coincidence. I believe she is one of those actors--like Robert Duvall or Morgan Freeman--who makes everyone else better just by starring alongside them. According to this website, her next role as a married woman is in "Lakeview Terrace", due out in 2008. The role of her husband is not cast yet, but expect him to win the golden man in two years.
There is a persistent, politically correct criticism about this film that it is somehow cheapened because it shown through the eyes of a Caucasian westerner instead of a Ugandan. But I think that works in the film's favor. It is aimed at a western, English-speaking audience, and too many of us--like Dr. Garrigan--take our freedoms for granted and don't understand how global politics affects our lives. Garrigan only grows a conscience once his freedoms are taken away. Also I like the ironic counterpoint in having McAvoy and McBurney play the "good guys", yet their characters are such jerks, while Whitaker plays the "bad guy", yet is so charming and likable.
The film does have some major flaws. Firstly, short shrift is given to Amin's actual crimes against humanity. We only see a few scattered glimpses of his cruelty in the second half of the movie. Secondly, the actual events depicted in the movie were spread out over six years, but since nobody in the film ages (not even the children), or even changes their hairstyle, one is left with the impression that all this happened in one summer.
"The Last King of Scotland" is a suspenseful thriller that is a cross between "Marathon Man" and the final act of "Apocolypse Now". It resonates with great acting and a powerful message that if we take our freedoms for granted, they can be quickly taken away by someone who seems to love us and pretends to have our best interests at heart.