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Created Aug 27, 2008 05:10PM PST • Edited Aug 27, 2008 05:10PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Very Good 3.5

   A man known by name when he should be known for his crimes, Idi Amin is chillingly portrayed by a sinister Forest Whitaker in this tense thriller. James McAvoy’s impetuous Scottish doctor discovers the dark side of Uganda in a film which recreates a despot’s rise to infamy with some fantastic acting, leaving this reviewer exhausted after watching. Some scenes drag, and Gillian Anderson’s role is superfluous, but the film as a whole is one to watch

4. Acting

   Good 3.0

   The film’s name refers to Amin’s claim that he would be the ‘last king of Scotland’, and Whitaker’s imperious turn here reflects the real man’s arrogance and evil. James McAvoy, along with Gillian Anderson and Kerry Washington, give the film balance as people caught in different situations around Amin, but much like the man himself, Whitaker looms large in the mind even when off-screen.

5. Male Stars Great 4.0

   At times comical and then abruptly callous or terrifying, Whitaker steals attention and creates an atmosphere of dread. McAvoy really proved to me with this film that he was no longer one of the insignificant co-stars in a little British drama (“Shameless”), but a talented and young actor who would go on to bigger things from here on in.

6. Female Stars Very Good 3.5

   Kerry Washington is brilliant here , the young American actress totally fooling this reviewer into thinking she was indeed a young African actress, and to later discover she’d been in Fantastic Four made me feel for the poor woman. Her portrayal of one of Amin’s many wives is touching; her chance at romance with the Scottish doctor doomed, and her fate an eerie echo of her real-life counterpart’s.

7. Female Costars Good 3.0

   Gillian Anderson pops up for what amounts to a cameo, but as one of the famous actresses in this film, she gets a mention, only really serving as a momentary distraction to McAvoy’s doctor as he starts his career in Uganda. I could see the point in having the character, but having a famous face like Anderson is strange and distracting when it should not be.

8. Male Costars Good 3.0

   I found it heartening to see another African British actor, David Olyewo, pop up here at the end of the film. Like McAvoy, he has been languishing in British television (“Spooks”) but in one small scene conveys his doctor character as a heroic and selfless man; a representation of many of those who struggled against Amin’s enforced rule in Uganda.

10. Film

    Good 3.0

    The film looked and sounded fantastic, and that was probably down to the director choosing a recent historical narrative, whereby Uganda could be replicated and portrayed honestly and accurately. Some of Amin’s speeches and threats echo the man’s evil nature, and the images of torture and death are enough to remind the viewer that the road to democracy in many African nations has cost them a heavy price.

11. Direction Very Good 3.5

    Kevin McDonald, better known for the documentary “Touching the Void”, tackles a feature film here, and shows himself to be a director that could be incredibly successful in future. Taking a fictional narrative that ties in with fact, McDonald utilises his documentary background to give the film a realistic sheen, with dialogue scenes in particular giving the viewer an edgy and up-close position in the scene. The news that he will adapt “State of Play” for the big screen is proof that this British director will soon be a big player in Hollywood, and that can only be good news!

12. Play Good 3.0

    Chilling in places, entertaining in others. Whitaker’s Amin shifts from one to the other, his eccentric admiration and embracing of Scotland creating rare moments of comedy, whilst his blunt retort after an assassination to McAvoy that he “knew exactly what was going to happen” when the doctor reported a traitor is menacing in many ways.

13. Music OK 2.5

    Much of the music was (from my recollection) Ugandan music, and as such fit well with the mood (though most was diegetic). The score itself undercut the tense atmosphere very well, as it should in a drama like this.

14. Visuals Good 3.0

    The sun-soaked African nation is sumptuously shot here, with many scenes having a picturesque late-dusk glow that gives background and atmosphere to many pivotal moments in the narrative.

15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 3.4

    This is definitely a film for adults. There’s swearing and sex, but the violence (particularly images of torture and mutilation) is quite bad. One scene left me quite disturbed, and it takes a lot with the current climate of ‘torture porn’ films, but in dealing with real-life situations such as that in Uganda, the horror is felt much more than with a fantastical situation.

17. Sex Erotic 2.7

18. Violence Savage 4.0

19. Rudeness Profane 3.5

21. Reality

    Glib 1.3

    The character of Garrigan is based on another man (a British national also), and so can be seen to be fictional whilst retaining aspects of truth. Amin however was a despot, and so much of the major things he is seen to do can be seen to be based on real events. The whole film is perfectly plausible; the only doubt is whether the events are close to the historical truth or not.

22. Circumstantial Glib 1.8

23. Biological Natural 1.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0