Wall Street Journal
The film as a whole measures up to Forest Whitaker's performance...one of the great performances of modern movie history...
Full review
The Last King Of Scotland
Forrest Whitaker (who won the Golden Globe for this role) stars as the infamous Ugandan tyrant, leader and warlord Idi Amin in this political thriller. The based-on-fact story follows a young Scottish doctor, Nicholas (McAvoy), who in 1971 goes to Uganda as a medical aid. After a chance encounter, he becomes a confident of the dictator, or in Amin’s words his “white monkey”.
Amin reportedly killed half a million of his people during his reign and named himself “Lord of all Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conquerer of the British Empire in Africa in general and Uganda in particular”. Evilness aside, that’s an awesome self-proclamation. Director Macdonald employs a realistic, doco-style to follows their relationship and Amin’s rule during this time.
Best Actor (Whitaker), Academy Awards and Golden Globes 2007
2007Rating: R16, contains violence and content that may disturb125 minsUSA, UK
DramaTrue Story & Biography
- Director:
- Kevin Macdonald ('Touching the Void')
- Writer:
- Jeremy BrockPeter Morgan
- Cast:
- Forest WhitakerJames McAvoyKerry WashingtonGillian Anderson
The Last King Of Scotland / Reviews
Variety
In the end, The Last King of Scotland is much better when it plays it cool and amusing than when it tries to ramp up outrage and indignation...
Full reviewSan Francisco Chronicle
Unlike Sean Penn's demagogue in "All the King's Men," you're able to forget that Whitaker is acting. He embodies the role. When clips of the real Amin are shown at the end, it's almost shocking to realize the extent to which Whitaker has become him...
Full review
New Zealand Herald
A titanic, spittle-flecked performance by Whitaker as Idi Amin is not enough to plug the holes in a film whose main character is an opportunist Scots doctor...
Full review
Empire Magazine
Both an enthralling examination of a horrific time and an adrenalin-filled thriller full of wry humour...
Full review
BBC
[Director Macdonald would] still have given us our money's worth if he'd merely switched the camera on, thanks to Whitaker's scarily seductive, force-of-nature portrayal...
Full review
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