The Last King of Scotland (2006)

Directed by Kevin Macdonald. Starring James McAvoy, Forest Whitaker, Simon McBurney, Kerry Washington, Apollo Okwenje Omamo, Gillian Anderson, David Oyelowo, Shabir Mir, Cleopatra Koheirwe, Abby Mukiibi Nkaaga. [R]

Young Scottish doctor McAvoy travels to Uganda to work at a missionary hospital, but fate intervenes when he’s called upon to treat the dictator who just seized control through a coup: the “Butcher of Uganda,” Idi Amin (Whitaker). Soon, McAvoy is welcomed into Amin’s inner circle as the leader’s personal physician and even an adviser, but the good doctor quickly realizes he’s in over his head with a madman. A well-made and unconventional biopic, coming at its subject sideways, and also functioning as a distressing political thriller. It’s based on a novel by Giles Foden, who interwove a fictional narrative into a patchwork of real events (Amin was, of course, a real person, but the doctor is nothing more than a writer’s gadget). Whitaker won an Academy Award embodying the contradictions within the volatile public figure: beaming with smiling charisma and empty promises like the craftiest of larger-than-life politicians, but cold-blooded, hot-tempered, and capable of monstrous acts. McAvoy’s doctor, however, is inherently hollow and lacking both motivation and background (he literally chooses Uganda as his destination by spinning a globe and randomly pointing). Although focus from Amin’s perspective would have been a dangerous and likely groundless proposition, there’s a hole in the middle where a compelling protagonist should have resided—allowing this writer’s invention to have an affair with one of Amin’s wives (Washington) rings especially false, leading to shock value repercussions. The movie’s seemingly incompatible title is actually a moniker that Amin bestowed upon himself (though no mention of it is made during the film).

70/100