The Last King of Scotland

The Last King of Scotland concerns a young Scottish doctor who, in order to escape the stultifying life in his hometown, goes to Africa to try to help people. He is working in a village clinic when, by chance, he meets the new charismatic president of Uganda, Idi Amin. He becomes seduced by Amin's charm and power, and becomes his personal physician and, crazily enough, one of his closest advisors. Amin, of course, is a megalomaniac and psychopath, and all too soon the doctor realizes he is in the center of a holocaust and looks to get out.

This film is well-made and acted, but while I was watching it I was searching for something. A film doesn't need to have a specific point, but this one kind of did. Anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of world events of the past thirty years knows the name Idi Amin and what a monster he was. There is nothing new here. The character of the doctor is fictional, so once again we have a film about Africa that is filtered through the eyes of a white man. The doctor is also not as smart as the viewer is, because it is apparent from the very beginning that Amin is dangerous, but the doctor refuses to see it until it is too late.

The ending is quite gripping--the doctor finally decides to act against Amin and is found out, and this all happens against the backdrop of the hijacked Air France plane that is being held at Entebbe. Will the doctor get out? There is also a subplot about the doctor's affair with one of Amin's wives that doesn't work.

As for Forest Whitaker as Amin, it is technically a fine performance. He brings out all the charisma, charm and menace of the man. While watching him you can see the wild beast in his eyes. But there are other unpleasant connotations of Emperor Jones. I would hope that more movies are made about more heroic figures from African history.