THE
LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
By TODD McCARTHY
Variety, 9/6/06
 A
supersized performance by Forest Whitaker
dominates "The Last King of Scotland" and rightfully so,
as he portrays one of recent history's great monsters, General Idi
Amin Dada of Uganda. Helmer Kevin Macdonald's plunge into full-fledged
dramatic filmmaking after the partial crossover from documentaries
in "Touching the Void" starts well, but trips over preposterous
plot developments as it pushes toward its climax. Unusual material
and a measure of critical acclaim will give this Fox Searchlight
title a decent shot at good biz in specialized release.
Hugely charming when he wants to be, but with a changeability that
can turn on a dime to appalling evil, Whitaker's Amin is a man with
an iron whim who engages a Scottish doctor as his personal physician
after being impressed with his handling of a roadside emergency.
This is a fictionalized version of the dictator's rise, wallow in
excess and lurch toward the abyss as seen by the brash young medic,
based on the acclaimed 1998 novel by Giles Foden.
One improvement screenwriters Peter Morgan ("The Queen")
and Jeremy Brock ("Mrs. Brown") make at the outset is
turning the relatively bland do-gooder Scotsman of the book into
a brash, cocky young adventurer who's ready for anything. Upgrade
results in a Nicholas Garrigan, agreeably if not always sympathetically
played by James McAvoy, who's not only more entertaining than his
counterpart on the printed page, but more plausible as a devil-may-care
guy who boldly speaks his mind to Amin while others cower in fright.
Picking Uganda virtually at random as a place where his new medical
degree could be put to good use, Nicholas is first stationed at
a remote village where he instantly puts the moves on older woman
Sarah Merrit (Gillian Anderson), the attractive wife of the area's
hard-working British physician (Adam Kotz). It's 1971, and together
Nicholas and Sarah attend a rousing back-country rally where Amin,
having just ousted the country's corrupt, communist-leaning leader,
Milton Obote, dazzles the locals as well as the naive newcomer,
to Sarah's consternation.
After the president's injured hand is neatly bandaged by Nicholas
and he realizes the heritage of his chance benefactor, Amin, who
long served in the King's African Rifles, sings the praises of the
Scottish, deeming them among the bravest fighters on Earth. Director
Macdonald, a Scotsman himself, stages a hilarious scene in which
Amin appears at a public ceremony wearing a kilt surrounded by Africans
performing a Scottish song.
Any misgivings erased by Amin's evident affinity for him, not to
mention the leader's genuinely ingratiating persuasiveness, Nicholas
accepts his new job and immediately reaps the rewards: a nice apartment
within the immaculate presidential compound, a Mercedes convertible,
women personally selected by Amin and, above all, unrestricted access
to the big boss himself, who deliberately denigrates other members
of his inner circle by calling Nicholas his closest adviser.
An alarming episode that only serves to strengthen the bond between
the two men has Amin impulsively asking Nicholas to drive him to
the airport in the convertible. En route, Amin's limousine, traveling
ahead, is ambushed by gunmen. The aftermath, when the would-be assassins
are dealt with, reveals to Nicholas the extent of Amin's fury for
the first time.
This entire first section is quite engaging for several reasons:
the fluky circumstances creating the main characters' bond (Amin's
actual physician was Scottish, although much older), Whitaker's
utterly convincing portrayal of Amin's larger-than-life appeal and
moodiness, and the view the film provides of a rarely seen location,
the attractively modern capital Kampala. This is reportedly the
first Western production to shoot in Uganda since the second unit
of "The African Queen" 56 years ago, and certainly the
first time its main city has been shown. To have the action play
out in its proper setting adds immensely to pic's interest.
Before long, however, intimations of Amin's misdeeds begin accumulating;
judges, rival politicians and others go "missing," and
Nicholas gets in hot water when he treats one of his boss's many
children, an epileptic boy, and becomes ill-advisedly involved with
the mother, Kay (Kerry Washington), an out-of-favor wife of the
president.
No matter how impudent Nicholas is capable of being, and no matter
how drunk at the time, his rash decision to get it on with a Mrs.
Amin is ludicrous; it's a ruinous narrative ploy that signals the
undue melodrama that overtakes the picture from this point on. Nicholas'
fate and efforts to escape Uganda are linked to the pro-Palestinian
hijacking of an Air France and the subsequent Israeli raid on Entebbe
Airport, during which he suffers cruel and unusual punishment of
the same nature as that endured by Richard Harris in "A Man
Called Horse."
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. Among its grace notes is the equivocal
portrayal of British interests in the former colony, most prominently
repped by an oily, persistent Foreign Service officer (an effective
Simon McBurney) who's not as clueless as he seems. The debauchery
of Amin's private life is glancingly conveyed by raucous party scenes;
at one of them, Amin watches "Deep Throat" and seeks Nicholas'
expert advice on the physiological possibility of Linda Lovelace's
purported clitoral condition.
Drama moves along speedily, although there's a hasty, unartful look
to the picture in general that lacks distinction.
A 20th Century Fox release of a Fox Searchlight
Pictures, DNA Films and FilmFour presentation in association with
the U.K. Film Council and Scottish Screen of a Cowboy Films/Slate
Films production. Produced by Andrea Calderwood, Lisa Bryer, Charles
Steel. Executive producers, Tessa Ross, Andrew Macdonald, Allon
Reich. Directed by Kevin Macdonald. Screenplay, Peter Morgan, Jeremy
Brock, based on the novel by Giles Foden.
Idi Amin - Forest Whitaker
Nicholas Garrigan - James McAvoy
Kay Amin - Kerry Washington
Sarah Merrit - Gillian Anderson
Stone - Simon McBurney
Dr. Junju - David Oyelowo
Jonah Wasswa - Stephen Rwangyezi
Masanga - Abby Mukiibi
Dr. Merrit - Adam Kotz
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