Not crazy though, he accepts the money in the end after kicking the ass of the onetime shark. With a constant smile, mocking Eddie throughout their games together, he has absolute confidence he can win, and not only does he win he humiliates Eddie, just for the fun of it, actually refusing at one point the money. Playing with Newman’s Eddie Felson, he had convinced Eddie he was good, but not great when in fact he was astonishing. As for James McAvoy, he is enthusiastic at best but then the character he plays must take most of the blame.Īnthony Dod Mantle’s camerawork is able to capture the romance of Africa along with its abject poverty but all in all The Last King of Scotland is at best tongue-in-cheek but it fails because it tends to shift genres.The first time I really noticed Forest Whitaker, the towering young actor, was stealing every second he was onscreen opposite Paul Newman in The Color of Money (1986), portraying a pool shark. Leonardo de Caprio was better in Blood Diamond. Whether he deserved the Best Actor Oscar, however, is debatable. He gets the power angle right but all credit to Forest Whitaker for doing a good job as Idi Amin. Then he toys with history and creates a believable story though some incidents must be taken with a pinch of salt. But can he influence that despot?ĭarkest Africa has always been a kind of Shangri La for the westerners and Foden obviously has that at the back of his mind. That Amin and Garrigan should meet accidentally is the take-off point. The screenplay by Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock is rather simplistic with sharp black and white contrasts, no shades of grey, but director Kevin Macdonald makes the most of this situation by churning out a populist version of history. The movie is based on a novel by Giles Foden. On the contrary, over three lakh Ugandans were massacred during his regime. “This will be a government of action, new schools, new roads…in my heart I’m a simple man, like you, I am you,” he said to the people in his opening speech. The sequence in which the African women sing a Scottish song, “Banks of Loch Lomond” is much too much.Īs for Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker), history has put him down as one of the biggest dictators. Like quite a few Britishers, he was looking for sun, fun and may be lend a helping hand. That the doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) should choose the country he worked in merely by twirling the globe and landing his finger on it only speaks of his naivety. That the young doctor came from that country further deepens their bond of friendship. What do you get then? Well The Last King of Scotland, so titled because the ruler is Idi Amin Dada and it reflects his fondness for that highland country. T ake two characters, one historical and the other fictional, one a charismatic but psychopathic ruler, the other an impetuous young doctor and weave a likely story, a mix of fact and fiction.
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