X
- 2006
- R
- Fox Searchlight Pictures
- 2 h 3 m
- 2006
- R
- Fox Searchlight Pictures
- 2 h 3 m
Summary In an incredible twist of fate, a Scottish doctor (McAvoy) on a Ugandan medical mission becomes irreversibly entangled with one of the world's most barbaric figures: Idi Amin (Whitaker). Impressed by Dr. Garrigan's brazen attitude in a moment of crisis, the newly self-appointed Ugandan President Amin hand picks him as his personal physic...
Directed By: Kevin Macdonald
Written By: Peter Morgan, Jeremy Brock, Giles Foden, David Fox
- 2006
- R
- Fox Searchlight Pictures
- 2 h 3 m
- 2006
- R
- Fox Searchlight Pictures
- 2 h 3 m
The Last King of Scotland
74
7.9
Where to Watch
Summary In an incredible twist of fate, a Scottish doctor (McAvoy) on a Ugandan medical mission becomes irreversibly entangled with one of the world's most barbaric figures: Idi Amin (Whitaker). Impressed by Dr. Garrigan's brazen attitude in a moment of crisis, the newly self-appointed Ugandan President Amin hand picks him as his personal physic...
Directed By: Kevin Macdonald
Written By: Peter Morgan, Jeremy Brock, Giles Foden, David Fox
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 36 Critic Reviews
74
92% Positive
33 Reviews
33 Reviews
8% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 36 Critic Reviews
74
92% Positive
33 Reviews
33 Reviews
8% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Unlike Sean Penn's demagogue in "All the King's Men," you're able to forget that Whitaker is acting. He embodies the role. When clips of the real Amin are shown at the end, it's almost shocking to realize the extent to which Whitaker has become him.
The movie is an extraordinary personal adventure that views everything through the eyes of its hero as it carries him from one apocalyptic situation to another.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 109 User Ratings
7.9
86% Positive
94 Ratings
94 Ratings
13% Mixed
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
1% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 109 User Ratings
7.9
86% Positive
94 Ratings
94 Ratings
13% Mixed
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
1% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
One of the best biographical films ever made. Forest Whitaker played the role of Ugandan president Idi Amin perfectly and James McAvoy was simply amazing as the role of Nicholas Garrigan. Definitely one of the best movies I've seen in a while.
An absolute Must-Watch masterpiece.
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The film as a whole measures up to Forest Whitaker's performance...one of the great performances of modern movie history.
The director is Kevin Macdonald, a documentary filmmaker making his fiction film feature debut. (He won an Oscar for his Munich Olympics hostage chronicle, "One Day in September.")
Director Kevin Macdonald has fashioned a film that is at times nearly as harrowing as his previous endeavor, "Touching the Void."
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.
The Last King of Scotland joins the ranks of nightmarish innocents-abroad movies, from "Midnight Express" to "Hostel," where the disillusioned hero fights to return to civility.
The last king of Scotland is scorcher of a film that follows the story of the horrid dictatorship that took over Uganda in the 70s. The movie is seen completely through the eyes of young Nicolas Garrigan James Mcavoy), a young Scottish doctor who decides he is tired of Scotland and ready to venture into another country to make a difference.
Soon after he begins his work in the town he begins a friendship with Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker), a powerful African leader who offers Garrigan a job as his personal doctor. Their developing relationship is wonderful to behold on screen, and for me was the main strength and the key point that made this movie go above and beyond.
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Inspired on true events, about how Scotch Nicholas Garrigan (fictional) became the GP and confident of Idi Amin Dada (outstanding Whitaker), who start as idealist and finished as one of most deranged and wickedest dictators of Africa.
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Based on true events, this film depicts the life and personality of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Directed by Kevin Macdonald, this film has a screenplay by Jeremy Brock and Peter Morgan. The cast is led by Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy.
This film portrays, mostly, real facts which are part of the dark side of the history of a young African country: Uganda. Idi Amin led the country with an iron fist, not hesitating to kill all potential opponents. Despite all the cast have played their role with great quality, Whitaker deserves mention: he knew perfectly incorporate the several facets of this highly contradictory historical character: in some moments, his thought and personality can seem very positive but, as the film is rolling, the audience increasingly contacts with the darker side of a deeply paranoid personality, worthy of a Caligula. Whitaker was truly intimidating, and the staff of characterization and costume managed to complete his work by giving him a strong physical resemblance to the real dictator. So its not surprising that Whitaker has won (with merit) the Oscar for Best Leading Actor. But be friend with someone like Amin means walking on the edge of a knife and too close to death. The character of McAvoy, a young idealistic and naive doctor from Scotland who went to Africa in search of adventure, shows us these dangers, and its delightful to see his mind awakening to the problems of that country, while contacting directly with the madness of his new African friend.
Visual, special and sound effects were very good, especially in the most stunning scenes, and scenarios easily transport us to Africa. The script, in turn, is quite consistent and realistic, not falling into exaggeration nor blistering action scenes. Everything went as it should, everything was done in the correct measure.
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"The Last King Of Scotland" is the mostly true story of Nicholas Garrigan (McAvoy), a young Scottish physician who travels to Uganda and eventually becomes the personal doctor to the dictator, Idi Amin (Whitaker). Directed by Kevin MacDonald, this movie certainly struck a few dissonant chords with me. I'm not saying the film was bad, in fact I found it "The Last King Of Scotland" to be a very remarkable motion picture. However, it is a deeply disturbing piece that aims to show the audience just how deranged Idi Amin was as Uganda's President. Which brings me to the film's most noteworthy aspect - Forest Whitaker's amazing, Academy-Award Winning turn as Idi Amin himself. Forest Whitaker's performance in "The Last King Of Scotland" is incredibly dynamic because at times I found myself laughing, gasping, and cringing in anger at some of the things that Whitaker did on screen. Some of the stuff that Whitaker's Amin does in this movie is truly frightening and really made me realize just how much of a megalomaniacal sociopath Amin was in real life. In fact there is one moment in this movie (one that I won't fully disclose due to it's grisliness) where I found myself just gaping at my television set - yeah stuff gets pretty grotesque. Obviously, Whitaker rightfully earned the Oscar For Best Actor in 2007. As for James McAvoy, he did a great job in his role as the doctor who just can't seem to escape the madness of Idi Amin, and throughout the movie you really learn to feel for his character. The script, of course, was brilliantly written, as it was adapted from the reportedly excellent Giles Foden novel of the same name. In terms of cinematography, I thought that the film's use of close-up shots on Amin really helped to accentuate his sheer madness and insanity. As for the rest of the camera work everything looks clean and efficient. All in all, I found "The Last King Of Scotland" to be a very remarkable, and disconcerting film that effectively used it's brilliant performances and impressive script to highlight the sheer terror that Idi Amin inflicted upon Uganda and it's people.
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Production Company
Fox Searchlight Pictures,
DNA Films,
FilmFour,
UK Film Council,
Scottish Screen,
Cowboy Films,
Slate Films,
Tatfilm
Release Date Sep 27, 2006
Duration 2 h 3 m
Rating R
Tagline Charming. Magnetic. Murderous.
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
British Independent Film Awards
• 2 Wins & 6 Nominations
