The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition)

The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition)
by Kevin Macdonald

The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition)
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Category: DVD
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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Forest Whitaker, Gillian Anderson, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington, Simon McBurney
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Brand: WHITAKER,FOREST
Producer: Allon Reich
Producer: Andrea Calderwood
Producer: Andrew Macdonald
Producer: Andrew Wood
Writer: Giles Foden
Writer: Jeremy Brock
Writer: Peter Morgan
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; German (Original Language); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 123 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-04-17
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Movie Reviews of The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition)

Movie Review: A solid movie and well worth watching.
Summary: 4 Stars

I know little about Idi Amin and don't pretend to know whether this movie was accurate or not. I can only say two things about the movie.

One, I enjoyed quite a bit about it. I found myself interested nearly the entire movie through and never was I disinterested with any of the characters.

Two, at a certain point the movie becomes disjointed and difficult to understand. That's when I started to dislike the movie - because I couldn't understand what had just happened. One moment Amin was a beloved leader, revered by the people, looked up to and hearalded, the next he's off killing people as traitors. There is no real transition to this event; it's never 100% clear exactly what his motives are. It's like he just snapped one day and became paranoid after something happens (can't say exactly...would spoil it), but that's not realistic at all. I know from what I've read that people regarded Amin as constantly thinking everyone was out to get him, and maybe that was true...maybe it wasn't. But at least portray a possible motive in the movie, and let the people watching decide for themselves.

Summary of The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition)

As Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, Forest Whitaker gives "one of the greatest performances of modern movie history" (Wall Street Journal), one that the Associated Press calls "nothing short of Oscar(r) worthy." This is Amin's incredible story as seen through the eyes of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young Scotsman who becomes the volatile leader's personal physician, due in part to Amin's unexpected passion for Scottish culture -- Amin even proclaims himself "The Last King of Scotland". Seduced by Amin's charisma and blinded by decadence, Garrigan's dream life becomes a waking nightmare of betrayal and madness from which there is no escape. Inspired by real people and events, this gripping, suspenseful stunner is filled with performances you will never forget.

As the evil Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, Forest Whitaker gives an unforgettable performance in The Last King of Scotland. Powerfully illustrating the terrible truth that absolute power corrupts absolutely, this fictionalized chronicle of Amin's rise and fall is based on the acclaimed novel by Giles Foden, in which Amin's despotic reign of terror is viewed through the eyes of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a Scottish doctor who arrives in Uganda in the early 1970s to serve as Amin's personal physician. His outsider's perspective causes him to be initially impressed by Amin's calculated rise to power, but as the story progresses--and as Whitaker's award-worthy performance grows increasingly monstrous--The Last King of Scotland turns into a pointed examination of how independent Uganda (a British colony until 1962) became a breeding ground for Amin's genocidal tyranny. As Whitaker plays him, Amin is both seductive and horribly destructive--sometimes in the same breath--and McAvoy effectively conveys the tragic cost of his character's naivet?, which grows increasingly prone to exploitation. As directed by Kevin Macdonald (who made the riveting semi-documentary Into the Void), this potent cautionary tale my prompt some viewers to check out Barbet Schroeder's equally revealing documentary General Idi Amin Dada, an essential source for much of this film's authentic detail. --Jeff Shannon


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