Untitled Document
The Last King of Scotland Running time 2:03
Rated R Parkway Pointe
At the heart of The Last
King of Scotland is a ferocious performance by
Forest Whitaker as the ousted Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. The actor so
finely captures the ruler’s vocal inflections and physical presence
that it’s hard not to just sit back and enjoy the illusion created by
such a magisterial transformation. In addition to providing this showcase
for the actor’s craft, though, the film forces us to grapple with the
confusing amalgam of attributes that was Idi Amin. A populist leader who also slaughtered obscene numbers
of his citizens, Amin began as a probably well-intentioned president who
was ultimately undone by his raging paranoia and violent impulses. Whitaker
brings out all these aspects and more, invoking a complex man who could be
at once beloved and feared, charming and chilling. Yet, it’s not the
leader on the world stage that The Last King of
Scotland offers us as much as an intimate
portrait that is seen through the eyes of a callow young doctor who
gradually grows thoroughly disillusioned after spending years as the chosen
bosom buddy of the erratic dictator. Aside from the fictional invention of
the doctor, Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), this narrative device feels
like the same sort of miscalculation that marred the civil-rights drama Mississippi Burning: Both films
are stories about black populations but are told through the eyes of white
interlopers. Furthermore, Garrigan is not a particularly likable character;
his naïve self-interest is unforgivable in this dangerous milieu, and
his late-stage transformation and illicit love affair never have the ring
of truth. With an unsympathetic everyman as our stand-in and an evil despot
at the center of the story, The Last King of
Scotland struggles to win our hearts.
Any drama that puts the Ugandan national story in the
spotlight is a good thing, as is the rumble of talk concerning Oscar
possibilities for Whitaker. Where were all these supporters were after
Whitaker completed Bird, The Crying Game, and Ghost Dog: The Way of the
Samurai? This veteran actor is always great,
and it’s just a little bit sad that he has to play a big, scary demon
for us to sit up and finally take notice.
This article appears in Jan 11-17, 2007.
