2006, Fox Searchlight, Dir. Kevin Macdonald - Starring Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, Simon McBurney, David Oyelowo, Abby Mikiibi Nkaaga, Adam Kotz, Barbara Rafferty, David Ashton, Giles Foden, Andy Williams, Martina Amati

Kevin Macdonald’s thrilling documentary One Day in September raised eyebrows for many audiences when it premiered, and his new film Last King of Scotland feels like a unassociated continuation to his interest in world crisises. A half-fiction, half-factual story of a doctor who becomes closely affiliated with Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, the film is one the year’s most taut thrillers, and sheds more light on the murderous leader. Beyond the thrill of its narrative, Macdonald also gives the audience two fantastic character studies. The great Forest Whitaker, who hasn’t gotten his share of great roles in the past, gives an arresting, winning performance as Amin - and proves to give one of the year’s best. James McAvoy, better known for his role as the fawn Tumnus in Chronicles of Narnia, gives great contrast to Whitaker’s act and proves to be an earnest leading man. Last King’s tone is relentlessly tense, leaving room for Forest to release the dictator’s mood swings at an alarming pace. It attends to the themes of war, love, and humanity all in its runtime.

Nicholas Garrigan (McAvoy) has just completed medical school and randomly chooses to volunteer as a doctor in Uganda. The year is 1971, and former Ugandan Prime Minister Milton Obote has been overthrown from power. The new leader Idi Amin (Whitaker), a charismatic “man of the people”, has won the hearts of the Ugandans, who are unaware of the atrocities awaiting them. After a public speaking note, Amin unexpectedly sprains his hand and calls for the closest doctor. That doctor is Garrigan, who is traveling with his love interest and married woman Sarah (Anderson). Garrigan helps the leader, but in a spark of impatience, shoots a farmer’s cow that bothered him at the time. Amin oddly congratulates the young doctor for speaking his mind, and eventually offers him a job as his personal physician. Nicholas accepts and begins to live the high life until Amin’s paranoid behavior becomes apparent to him. No one appears trustworthy to the dictator, and soon - due to a growing relationship with Amin’s third wife Kay (Washington) - Garrigan finds himself pursued by his boss. It winds down to either fleeing Uganda, or be killed.

McAvoy, even when conversing with Whitaker’s lecherous Amin, is not just your innocent bystander. He is a calculated human being, working alongside a dictator he knows nothing about, just to earn a hefty dollar. Garrigan is portrayed as a caring man, but becomes engrossed in his own luxuries and sexual appetite than his volunteer work. As McAvoy and Whitaker’s characters first meet, we already recognize the impulsive behavior of both characters. This brief meeting spirals into something more dangerous - Amin’s trust in Garrigan. McAvoy fuses humanity and truth into his character, and tends to grow more sympathetic once his life comes down to the wire. But it is Whitaker who is the true prize of The Last King. As Amin, Whitaker’s harrowing act seizes control of the screen. At the mild twitch of an eye, Forest can shift moods and reveal his character’s complex schizophrenia. The performance is bound to send chills up viewer’s spines, but that is Whitaker’s intent. At that, he has succeeded, and proves he has what it takes. Idi Amin is no longer just a name out of the history book, but a loathsome beast that must still be feared.

Macdonald’s hand never feels shaky when exposing the acts of mass genocide during Amin’s reign, which should prove to be a very disturbing watch for many. It is a brutal era portrayed, only to be contrasted with a grimy, overzealous lifestyle of Uganda’s wealthiest. Garrigan’s new life in Uganda feels more like a porn star’s dream vacation, equipped with enough prostitutes and alcohol to last an entire decade. Apart from the true face of Ugandan culture, there is only a distasteful view of Amin’s world. This world of extravagant ballroom parties and flashy Beemers are not associated with typical African countryside, so the audience gets as real a look into the warped excuse for Amin’s discourse from “his people”. The film even has a slimy, guitar-driven soundtrack to assist its glamorous depiction. Thematically, Last King is solid. If not for a few mild caricatures, the final product would be flawless. Still, the impending last moments in the movie are the most striking - between Garrigan and Amin, and their broken connection. Few words are exchanged, a brutal act committed, and a regime is eventually toppled. We understand that Amin could be a very caring leader, but then we realize there is no turning back for him anymore.

The Last King of Scotland is a fascinating film, and an in-depth retrospective of the torturous ways of an exiled fool. As an audience, we must enter a small room and try to trust everyone we watch. But as Garrigan learns, there’s more than meets the eye. And for me, and for what it intended, the film succeeds triumphantly.