Movie Review: The Last King of Scottland
May 1st, 2008 by admin
- Director: Kevin Macdonald
- Genre: Drama/Thriller
- Year: 2006
That golden statue Forrest Whittaker walked away with for portraying Idi Amin? Yeah, the Oscar? It was very well deserved, let me tell you. Only now am I getting around to watching this movie and his performance was amazing. It helps that the entire cast does a good job in all the supporting roles from Gillian Anderson to Kerry Washington and the not excluding the protagonist, played by James McCavoy who dons the role of a young Scottish doctor jaded with the Ivy League world he has lived in and opting to go to Uganda, where he intends to work as a relief doctor, in an obscure village.
Youthful and full of enthusiasm, and not quite free of flaws, the young doctor finds his life adventurous and exciting in a three man clinic (including him) tending to the poor villagers. But it is a complete accident…literally, which brings to his care the newly positioned president of Uganda, a powerful General that has essentially overthrown the government in a coup.
Impressed, the Idi Amin offers the young doctor the position of being his own personal physician, which after some convincing, Dr. Garrigan accepts, only to find out once it is too late, how dark the world of politics can be, particularly in a country where corruption runs rampant and when you are the physician of a man who turns out to be leading a nationwide genocide.
Pregnant with a heavy subject matter, this movie is frankly not for the light hearted. It is a sad, film that touches on the ugly side of humanity, on the stretches of corruption and the lures of power. But it is the acting that makes it so believable along with the directing and in this movie EVERYBODY is on the ball. I do have a couple of problems with the movie, nothing mayor except for one thing at the end which I can not discuss openly without giving too much away. But do not let that deter you, if you can watch this movie, just be aware that there are some hard scenes to watch.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Notes: Violence, adult situation, nudity, sexuality, language and some gruesome imagery.
Quote: Nicholas Garrigan: You’re a child. That’s what makes you so fucking scary.