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Movie Overview
Cast
• James McAvoy
• Forest Whitaker
• Gillian Anderson
Director
• Kevin MacDonald
MPAA Rating
R - for some strong violence and gruesome images, sexual content and language
The Last King of Scotland (2006)

REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
OFCS Rating: 78% 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

"Pit stop for white liberal guilt and neocolonial pillaging"  CinePassion  Fernando F. Croce

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

"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

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
"Two terrific performances cap this interesting historical perspective on ruthless dictator Idi Amin."  Oscar Guy  Wesley Lovell
OFCS Rating: 78% Fresh
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