The Last King of Scotland (2006)

Starring Forest Whitaker

The Last King of Scotland is a mesmerizing film; Forest Whitaker gives a riveting performance as the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. He pulls us into the dark heart of this disturbing and disturbed man: we see his charm and warmth turned on like a faucet in dealing with people he wants to manipulate. We see his manic/depressive side as he ranges from giddy happiness to frightened paranoia. Through it all is an amazing intensity, best seen in the movie when Whitaker’s face fills the entire screen and we observe one bright, focused, crazed eye contrasted with his other lazy, wandering eye. This movie should net Whitaker an Oscar.

The movie is framed around the story of a young, callow Scots youth (Nicholas Garrigan, played by James McAvoy) who has just gotten his medical degree. Wanting to escape from his father’s influence, he spins a globe, inserts a pin and heads to Uganda to work at a rural health clinic. He seems to take up his duties satisfactorily (though sparks fly between he and the pretty wife of the senior clinic doctor), but a chance meeting on the road wherein he gives medical care to a recently victorious Idi Amin sets him on a tragic path. Amin convinces him to become his personal physician. Garrigan soon finds that he must minister both to the body and mind of the dictator; Amin even treats him as a personal counselor, seeking advice on matters of state.

At first Garrigan seems to be making a difference. He’s excited to help Amin, and even somewhat admires his dynamic, larger-than-life style. The dictator praises his advice on health, architecture and press relations. Garrigan enjoys the attention and accolades he receives for his work, and the material gifts from Amin.

Garrigan is not a particularly sympathetic character. Convenience and comfort outweigh integrity and conviction; he dallies where he shouldn’t, and finds that there are some people you never want to be on the wrong side of. As his urgency to escape increases, so does his realization that his poor decisions have left him without a lot of hope and without many friends to help him. Because actor James McAvoy does so well portraying a clueless, unanchored, and immature person, I found that I really didn’t care as much whether he escaped or not.

This movie is a tour de force for Whitaker; it’s a sad, powerful depiction of a brutal and evil man and of the lives he distorts and destroys in his embrace of virtually unlimited power. It’s tough to watch, and serves as a reminder that there are monsters loose in the world; we must recognize and avoid them lest they devour us.