The Last King of Scotland
On January 25, 1971, General Idi Amin seizes power in the African nation of Uganda, overthrowing the country's prime minister Milton Obote and instituting himself as its new political leader. The people of Uganda initially welcome Amin, having suffered under Obote's regime, and the new president is not afraid to show his face around the country. His victory rallies attract many Ugandians, who are easily taken in by his charismatic and promising speeches.
Several months earlier and a good half a world away, young Scottish Nicholas Garrigan has recently graduated from medical school. Being horrified by the idea of spending the rest of his life as a family doctor, he decides instead to grab a globe, give it a spin and pick any destination. He winds up in Uganda.
A few days after the coup, as fate will have it, one of Amin's victory rallies takes place right in the small village where Nicholas has been lending a wannabe-idealist hand in doctoring to the local population for the past few months. And Nicholas, himself enamoured of the new president's powerful appearance, also happens to be the only doctor around when Amin, in a freak accident, is attacked by a cow and injures his hand.
With one act of medical professionalism, Nicholas earns himself Amin's dubious affections. He is instated as the president's personal physician and moves out of the village, right into the presidential palace. A life devoted to healing the poor is quickly exchanged for a life filled with parties, women and expensive cars, and the doctor's last remaining ideals are soon forgotten.
Living the good life with the Ugandian high society, Nicholas is in over his head long before he knows it. The closer he becomes to Amin, the more he is sucked into the political intrige and scandal that surround the president. Before long, people whose views rival those of the current administration start disappearing. Entire ethnic minorities are thrown out of the country. Anyone accused or suspected of supporting Obote is executed.
It is in this unstable, highly paranoid environment that Nicholas eventually realises he is in deep, deep trouble. He doesn't, of course, make it any better for himself when he gets involved with a few resident British who want Amin out - and to top it off, gets involved with Amin's wife too. With the country falling apart around him, Nicholas has to find a way to stay alive, keep those around him alive and get out of the country as fast as possible. But can he do so before a profoundly unhinged Amin realises that even his closest confidante is betraying him left, front and center?
Deeply disturbing, at times perhaps unrealistically so, the Last King of Scotland comes close to hitting must-see territory. The story, based on true events and written after the novel by Giles Foden, is one that keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning until end. This is mostly thanks to Forest Whitaker, who can portray an unbelievably convincing maniacal and yet oddly charming Amin with two fingers up his nose and his legs crossed behind his back (no, I don't know what that would look like). His performance seems effortless yet flawless - combine this with several well-timed close-up shots of Amin's sweaty, scar-ridden face and you can imagine how bone-chilling the persona becomes.
Case in point:
If I met example one in a dark alley, I would probably pee my pants, acquisce, and hand over my purse. If I met example two in a dark alley, I'd pinch his cheeks and buy him a beer.
I'm having a hard time deciding whether James McAvoy, who portrays Nicholas Garrigan, deserves the same gushing or not. His character, throughout the movie, is a passive-agressive pansy and the so-called idealism that brings him to Uganda is convincing to no one, not even to himself. I mostly wanted to give him a big wedgy and pester him into doing my homework for me. And after that kick him in the nuts, because he also tries to sleep with just about every woman he meets and I don't like sluts.
I suppose it's just good acting on his part that his character pisses me off so much, but it's tricky not to think it might also be his own personality shining through (although IMDB tells me he's a married man, a boxer, a fencer, a rugby player and a fire eater, which would lead me to conclude that James McAvoy is actually a total non-pansy and a non-manwhore).
While the majority of the scenes feature either Forest Whitaker being delusional and schizo or James McAvoy being a promiscuous pantywaist, it wouldn't be fair not to mention some of the other contributors. I found it very amusing, for example, to see Gillian Anderson (who my fellow sci-fi nerds will know and cherish as Dana Scully on The X-files) pop up in the first part of the movie. She plays Sarah Merrit, wife and assistant to the British doctor that Nicholas starts working for when he first arrives in Uganda. Her attempt to sound English made me want to take a needle to my eardrums and her rendition of a rough-n-tough but neglected wife who's torn between attraction to the new young stud on the block and faithfulness to her husband is nothing short of embarrassing - but she looks good as a blonde.
Kerry Washington, who plays Idi Amin's wife Kay, does an equally sordid job. Her character is supposed to evoke a sense of sympathy from the audience, being a woman deprived of freedom and love and boo-hoo how my heart bleeds. Kay in stead comes across as a vapid excuse to intersperse the story with some sexy black booty. The character's single accomplishment is getting knocked up by Nicky about 3 seconds after they first hit it off. This, predictably, leads to her untimely and gruesome demise. Sad, but when you're married to a trigger-happy sadist with an entire army full of trigger-happy sadist followers, you probably have it coming to you if you manage to end up preggers by his closest advisor.
Fortunately for The Last King of Scotland, the good acting carries the story while the bad acting doesn't really detract from it, so ultimately what we're left with is a powerfully told interpretation of General Idi Amin's reign over Ugunda. And while there are a few moments where MacDonald gets a little too graphic for those of us with delicate sensibilities, overall the movie conveys a sense of fear and paranoia through great acting, great camera work and great music. If you like dark, brooding thrillers or are interested in this particular part of history, the movie is therefore definitely worth seeing.
Several months earlier and a good half a world away, young Scottish Nicholas Garrigan has recently graduated from medical school. Being horrified by the idea of spending the rest of his life as a family doctor, he decides instead to grab a globe, give it a spin and pick any destination. He winds up in Uganda.
A few days after the coup, as fate will have it, one of Amin's victory rallies takes place right in the small village where Nicholas has been lending a wannabe-idealist hand in doctoring to the local population for the past few months. And Nicholas, himself enamoured of the new president's powerful appearance, also happens to be the only doctor around when Amin, in a freak accident, is attacked by a cow and injures his hand.
With one act of medical professionalism, Nicholas earns himself Amin's dubious affections. He is instated as the president's personal physician and moves out of the village, right into the presidential palace. A life devoted to healing the poor is quickly exchanged for a life filled with parties, women and expensive cars, and the doctor's last remaining ideals are soon forgotten.
Living the good life with the Ugandian high society, Nicholas is in over his head long before he knows it. The closer he becomes to Amin, the more he is sucked into the political intrige and scandal that surround the president. Before long, people whose views rival those of the current administration start disappearing. Entire ethnic minorities are thrown out of the country. Anyone accused or suspected of supporting Obote is executed.
It is in this unstable, highly paranoid environment that Nicholas eventually realises he is in deep, deep trouble. He doesn't, of course, make it any better for himself when he gets involved with a few resident British who want Amin out - and to top it off, gets involved with Amin's wife too. With the country falling apart around him, Nicholas has to find a way to stay alive, keep those around him alive and get out of the country as fast as possible. But can he do so before a profoundly unhinged Amin realises that even his closest confidante is betraying him left, front and center?
Deeply disturbing, at times perhaps unrealistically so, the Last King of Scotland comes close to hitting must-see territory. The story, based on true events and written after the novel by Giles Foden, is one that keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning until end. This is mostly thanks to Forest Whitaker, who can portray an unbelievably convincing maniacal and yet oddly charming Amin with two fingers up his nose and his legs crossed behind his back (no, I don't know what that would look like). His performance seems effortless yet flawless - combine this with several well-timed close-up shots of Amin's sweaty, scar-ridden face and you can imagine how bone-chilling the persona becomes.
Case in point:
If I met example one in a dark alley, I would probably pee my pants, acquisce, and hand over my purse. If I met example two in a dark alley, I'd pinch his cheeks and buy him a beer.
I'm having a hard time deciding whether James McAvoy, who portrays Nicholas Garrigan, deserves the same gushing or not. His character, throughout the movie, is a passive-agressive pansy and the so-called idealism that brings him to Uganda is convincing to no one, not even to himself. I mostly wanted to give him a big wedgy and pester him into doing my homework for me. And after that kick him in the nuts, because he also tries to sleep with just about every woman he meets and I don't like sluts.
I suppose it's just good acting on his part that his character pisses me off so much, but it's tricky not to think it might also be his own personality shining through (although IMDB tells me he's a married man, a boxer, a fencer, a rugby player and a fire eater, which would lead me to conclude that James McAvoy is actually a total non-pansy and a non-manwhore).
While the majority of the scenes feature either Forest Whitaker being delusional and schizo or James McAvoy being a promiscuous pantywaist, it wouldn't be fair not to mention some of the other contributors. I found it very amusing, for example, to see Gillian Anderson (who my fellow sci-fi nerds will know and cherish as Dana Scully on The X-files) pop up in the first part of the movie. She plays Sarah Merrit, wife and assistant to the British doctor that Nicholas starts working for when he first arrives in Uganda. Her attempt to sound English made me want to take a needle to my eardrums and her rendition of a rough-n-tough but neglected wife who's torn between attraction to the new young stud on the block and faithfulness to her husband is nothing short of embarrassing - but she looks good as a blonde.
Kerry Washington, who plays Idi Amin's wife Kay, does an equally sordid job. Her character is supposed to evoke a sense of sympathy from the audience, being a woman deprived of freedom and love and boo-hoo how my heart bleeds. Kay in stead comes across as a vapid excuse to intersperse the story with some sexy black booty. The character's single accomplishment is getting knocked up by Nicky about 3 seconds after they first hit it off. This, predictably, leads to her untimely and gruesome demise. Sad, but when you're married to a trigger-happy sadist with an entire army full of trigger-happy sadist followers, you probably have it coming to you if you manage to end up preggers by his closest advisor.
Fortunately for The Last King of Scotland, the good acting carries the story while the bad acting doesn't really detract from it, so ultimately what we're left with is a powerfully told interpretation of General Idi Amin's reign over Ugunda. And while there are a few moments where MacDonald gets a little too graphic for those of us with delicate sensibilities, overall the movie conveys a sense of fear and paranoia through great acting, great camera work and great music. If you like dark, brooding thrillers or are interested in this particular part of history, the movie is therefore definitely worth seeing.
Movie Reviews on 23 Feb 2007 by 