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Movie Overview
Cast
James McAvoy
Forest Whitaker
Gillian Anderson
Director
Kevin MacDonald
MPAA Rating
Not Rated - for some strong violence and gruesome images, sexual content and language
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
(1 - 44) of 44
OFCS Rating: 82% Fresh
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"[T]he movie's emphasis on Nicholas's misadventures, as if the audience couldn't get into the story of Uganda without an educated, white, middle-class European as a protagonist, is a huge let-down in its own terms."
Blogcritics.org
Alan Dale
B
"It observes the insanity of Amin through the eyes of a corrupted soul, leaving just enough space between fact and fiction to flesh out a fascinating motion picture."
OhmyNews.com
Brian Orndorf
"As a metaphor, the fictional Nicholas makes clear the insidious means by which the West, and in particular, the Caucasian West, exploits and abuses its privilege."
PopMatters
Cynthia Fuchs
A
"A tour de force performance by Forrest Whittaker makes this Idi Amin biopic a compelling, challenging, edgy film."
EDGE Boston
David Foucher
2.5/4
"...Whitaker's superb work remains the highlight of an otherwise routine effort."
Reel Film Reviews
David Nusair
A
"Powerful Academy Award caliber performance by Whitaker."
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Dennis Schwartz
5/10
"film postaje daleko mra%u010Dniji nego %u0161to su to njegovi autori imali u plan"
Index.hr
Dragan Antulov
"Approximates through its fictional lead character (a white doctor who spins a globe, closes his eyes, and plops his finger on Uganda) what it might be like for, well, members of The National Board of Review to be air dropped into the middle of Africa."
Slant Magazine
Ed Gonzalez
3/5
"La película vale la pena sobre todo por la imponente actuación de Forest Whitaker, igualmente encantador o amenazante en la piel de uno de los dictadores más sanguinarios de África."
Uruguay Total
Enrique Buchichio
A-
"We are in awe not that the character is so wildly unstable, but that Whitaker has made such a wildly unstable character seem so natural."
EricDSnider.com
Eric D. Snider
1.5/4
"This isn't a history lesson, it's Playing God co-starring Idi Amin with Scully instead of Mulder."
eFilmCritic.com
Erik Childress
A-
"McDonald gets the relationship between the two central characters so right, makes it so fascinating, that more historical detail would have been a distraction."
Film Blather
Eugene Novikov
B
"An uneven film not entirely successful in juggling its very different tones, but...Whitaker's performance is so good that it makes the picture almost insanely watchable."
One Guy's Opinion
Frank Swietek
5/5
"One of the best films of the year with its depiction of the dynamics of power in politics and the dangers that ensure when paranoia overtakes a leader and those around him."
Spirituality and Practice
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
A-
"Whitaker and McAvoy inhabit their roles so fully that the film around them transforms into a major document of 1970's cultural myopia."
Modern Fabulousity
Gabriel Shanks
3/4
"
The Last King of Scotland
isn't for everyone, but for those who can stomach its brutality, it offers a compelling look into how such a popular leader became known as one of Africa's most vicious dictators of the 1970s."
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
3/5
"Director Kevin Macdonald brings his experience as documentary filmmaker to bear on the film, giving us a burnished portrait of Uganda's descent into hell that is heavy on location photography, handheld jerkiness, and zooms."
Q Network Film Desk
James Kendrick
8/10
"Few films this year have been as suspenseful as
The Last King of Scotland
, which is due in large part to the tour de force performance of Forest Whitaker."
ReelTalk Movie Reviews
Jeffrey Chen
3/4
"Provides a vivid snapshot of Uganda and a tour-de-force portrayal of a creature who is all the more horrifying because his evil is so recognizable, and so chillingly embracing and warm."
Slant Magazine
Jeremiah Kipp
C+
"flamboyantly chaotic vision of Hell that certainly won't encourage African tourism"
Old School Reviews
John A. Nesbit
"Forest Whitaker performs the ultimate magic act: he turns a blood-thirsty butcher into a charismatic, empathetic man."
Light Views
John Larsen
7/10
"Forest Whitaker checks in with his most powerful performance since tackling Charlie Parker in
Bird
."
Planet Sick-Boy
Jon Popick
"The Last King of Scotland may be fiction, but you will never have any doubt that this is the real Idi Amin."
In the Dark
Jonathan F. Richards
3/4
"As Idi Amin, Whitaker embodies the spirit of a smiling, deranged, murderous fool. Amin is a child with power and guns and a devastating to watch paranoia and inferiority complex."
Bangitout.com
Jordan Hiller
4.5/5
"Whitaker is electrifying (I hate it when critics use that word, but seriously, it applies), but the film itself is merely agur for his performance."
Cinerina
Karina Montgomery
"Idi's got da bling!"
Slant Magazine
Keith Uhlich
2.5/5
"The compression of time is a stiff reminder that we are watching, after all, a movie."
Film-Forward.com
Kent Turner
3.5/5
"it's Whitaker that kept the film alive when everyone was handing him Best Actor statuettes"
7M Pictures
Kevin Carr
B
"...may be seen as this year's "Hotel Rwanda," but...its viewpoint from inside the palace walls makes it more intimate, and therefore oddly, less devastating, drama."
Reeling Reviews
Laura Clifford
3/4
"Forest Whitaker's mesmerizing performance as Idi Amin drives Kevin Macdonald's adaptation of Giles Foden's 1998 novel about the dictator's reign of terror, which left Uganda's once-thriving economy in ruins and at least 300,000 of his countrymen dead."
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Maitland McDonagh
7/10
"The history of Idi Amin is an intriguing story, but this film tells us too much about its fictional European and not enough about the politics of Uganda under an all-too-real tyrant."
rec.arts.movies.reviews
Mark R. Leeper
"[G]etting lost in all the well-earned love for Whitaker is his costar, James McAvoy, the primary focus through which Whitaker's starburst prisms into its brilliance..."
Flick Filosopher
MaryAnn Johanson
3.5/4
"
Last King
powerfully explores the duality between congeniality and brutality."
Aisle Seat
Mike McGranaghan
B
"A stinging rebuke to both do-gooder white-man's-burden fantasies and the disingenuous, Africa-exoticizing movies that promote them."
Lessons of Darkness
Nick Schager
4/5
"Exalando um carisma mais do que apropriado ao personagem, [Forest Whitaker] busca seduzir não apenas Nicholas, mas também o espectador."
Cinema em Cena
Pablo Villaca
4.5/5
"Starting as a lively adventure, this film slowly twists into a haunting and unforgettable thriller, using real life events to tell a devastatingly powerful story."
Shadows on the Wall
Rich Cline
C-
"Would Kanye West say that
The Last King of Scotland
doesn't care about black people?"
Projection Booth
Rob Humanick
B
"As storytelling, it could use some fine tuning, but it keeps its dark premise close to its heart at all times."
Flipside Movie Emporium
Rob Vaux
B+
"A chilling story story of how men become corrupted by power and are capable of the most horrendous evil imaginable."
Laramie Movie Scope
Robert Roten
2.5/4
"A dominant Whitaker lords over this flawed mixture of history and intrigue."
Charlotte Weekly
Sean O'Connell
"Forest Whitaker shatters abstraction and replaces it with flesh, blood and unspeakable charm."
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
8/10
"Featuring an extraordinary, Oscar-worthy performance by Forest Whitaker, this gripping drama interweaves historical fact with fiction into an edgy, eye-riveting tale."
Modamag.com
Susan Granger
3.5/4
"Featuring vivid supporting performances from Simon McBurney and Gillian Anderson,
The Last King of Scotland
is one of 2006's best films to date."
Reel.com
Timothy Knight
3.5/4
"Two terrific performances cap this interesting historical perspective on ruthless dictator Idi Amin."
Oscar Guy
Wesley Lovell
(1 - 44) of 44
OFCS Rating: 82% Fresh
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