Last King of Scotland, The DVD Review

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"The Last King Of Scotland" reviews

DVD

The Last King Of Scotland

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2007-05-11 15:01:04

Provider

DVD Review

While this film, concerning former Uganda President Idi Amin draws more on fiction than was mentioned in its promotional blurb, it's nonetheless captivating and boasts an outstanding, Oscar-winning performance by Forest Whitaker.

The film is set in the 1970s, following Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy - TV's Shameless, Narnia) who travels to Uganda to volunteer as a doctor in a rural hospital. He immediately falls for the vibrancy of the country, which has just been taken over by a military government in a people's coup. A fateful twist lands Garrigan a glamorous job as personal physician and closest confidante to the new president Idi Amin (screen veteran Forest Whitaker), who happens to love everything Scottish. Naive Garrigan is psychologically seduced by his influential new position and the overwhelming charisma of Amin but soon awakens to his bosses' barbaric dictatorship - and his own complicity in it.

A nightmarish plot of horror and betrayal ensues as Garrigan tries to right his wrongs and escape Uganda alive, culminating in a heart-pounding climax set during the 1976 Israeli hostage tragedy at Uganda's Entebbe airport.

McAvoy's performance has rightly boosted his movie status considerably while

Whitaker's extensive research for the role - involving meeting Amin's family and learning Swahili - clearly paid off.

Includes director's commentary, deleted scenes, Capturing Idi Amin documentary, Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin featurette and Fox Movie Channel Presents: Casting - The Last King of Scotland.