Review of The Last King of Scotland (2006) by Kevin P — 15 Jan 2012

Fantastic performaces all round, but particularly from Forest Whitaker, whose always dramatic, oft vicious and brutal, portrayal of the dictator is easily Oscar-worthy. Excellently excuted visuals and deep, believable characterisation make this film is as tense as a breaking up with your girlfriend in her house when her father is an arms-dealer.

The difference between the opening half of the film compared to the latter is marked in terms of tone, but the more up-beat first half serves many roles; not least to emphasise the disturbing turns of Amin as he tries to exercise complete control of his country and his image.

It also reminds us of the possible mindset of Ugandans at the time: the positive welcome of a new leader and the slow realisation that he is a dictator of similar disposition to previous politicians. All in all, the adjectives "gritty", "realistic" and "disconcerting" are all over-used when reviewing films of this type and caliber.

.. However in the absense of anything better...