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As Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, Forest Whitaker gives "one of the greatest performances of modern movie history" (Wall Street Journal), one that the Associated Press calls "nothing short of Oscar(r) worthy." This is Amin's incredible story as seen through the eyes of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young Scotsman who becomes the volatile leader's personal physician, due in part to Amin's unexpected passion for Scottish culture -- Amin even proclaims himself "The Last King of Scotland". Seduced by Amin's charisma and blinded by decadence, Garrigan's dream life becomes a waking nightmare of betrayal and madness from which there is no escape. Inspired by real people and events, this gripping, suspenseful stunner is filled with performances you will never forget.

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As the evil Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, Forest Whitaker gives an unforgettable performance in The Last King of Scotland. Powerfully illustrating the terrible truth that absolute power corrupts absolutely, this fictionalized chronicle of Amin's rise and fall is based on the acclaimed novel by Giles Foden, in which Amin's despotic reign of terror is viewed through the eyes of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a Scottish doctor who arrives in Uganda in the early 1970s to serve as Amin's personal physician. His outsider's perspective causes him to be initially impressed by Amin's calculated rise to power, but as the story progresses--and as Whitaker's award-worthy performance grows increasingly monstrous--The Last King of Scotland turns into a pointed examination of how independent Uganda (a British colony until 1962) became a breeding ground for Amin's genocidal tyranny. As Whitaker plays him, Amin is both seductive and horribly destructive--sometimes in the same breath--and McAvoy effectively conveys the tragic cost of his character's naiveté, which grows increasingly prone to exploitation. As directed by Kevin Macdonald (who made the riveting semi-documentary Into the Void), this potent cautionary tale my prompt some viewers to check out Barbet Schroeder's equally revealing documentary General Idi Amin Dada, an essential source for much of this film's authentic detail. --Jeff Shannon

Beyond The Last King of Scotland

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The Last King of Scotland (Paperback)

Rating : - A must see
The Last King of Scotland is both a showcase of superb acting performances and a taught, suspensful thriller. I highly recommend adding it to your collection.

Few people are familiar with Idi Amin, not one of the 20th Century's more famous dictators, but extremely bloody with an estimated 300,000 Ugandans killed under his regime. Forrest Whittaker deserves his oscar as the paranoid, playful despot capturing the ruthless side but also, most difficult, his playful side. There are superb moments such as when the dictator's eyes light up at the sight of Dr Garrigan's Scotland vest and he impishly declares his son is called Campbell in honour of his love of Scotland.

McAvoy is also superb as Dr Garrigan, a naive and cocksure young Scottish doctor who becomes embroiled in the terror, paranoia and corruption of Amin's regime, and there are masterful support roles, most notably Simon McBurney as the pompous British Foreign Office official who informs the arrogant Garrigan of his mistakes.

The final scenes featuring mutilated cadavers and meat hook torture is not for the faint hearted. But the violence is structurally necessary and not at all gratuitous.