When a leader commands as much conviction in his voice as Forest Whitaker does as Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland,” you don’t ask why the man thinks or acts the way he does; you just go along with the ride.
Director Kevin Macdonald and screenwriter Peter Morgan are more than happy to take us on this historical journey through 1970s Uganda, when Ugandan President and army general Idi Amin ruled the country with an iron fist. We see the events unfold through the eyes of Dr. Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a stifled young man from Scotland looking to escape into the world and do some good.
It does seem to be a trend in historical biopics like these to view the most interesting character, in this case, Amin, from the outside and not as the protagonist. And although we get a richly complex character in Amin, the main story is about a boy who was once sheltered at home and was then ironically sheltered in one of the most dangerous places in the world. Continue reading “The Last King of Scotland”