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.
Comment
09/26/06
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
87
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:176
Fresh:153
Rotten:23
Average Rating:7.3/10
Consensus: Forest Whitaker's performance as real-life megalomaniac dictator Idi Amin powers this fictionalized political thriller, a blunt and brutal tale about power and corruption.
Theatrical Release:Sep 27, 2006 Limited
Box Office: $17,449,410
Synopsis: Forest Whitaker delivers a ferociously commanding performance as bloodthirsty Ugandan president Idi Amin in Kevin MacDonald's THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND. Adapted from the novel by Giles Foden, the... [More]
Starring: James McAvoy, Forest Whitaker, Gillian Anderson, David Oyelowo
Director: Kevin MacDonald
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Reviews for The Last King of Scotland
it's Mean Girls, with more bloody warlords
09/26/06
Kevin Macdonald's queasily enjoyable fiction film creates a portrait of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin from inside the palace walls.
09/26/06
A masterfully skewed twist on A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court ... Macdonald has really made his mark as a filmmaker.
09/26/06
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.
09/26/06
Top CriticIdi's got da bling!
09/25/06
Forest Whitaker gives a masterpiece of a performance, the kind of incredible acting that crosses the line into just being.
09/25/06
The film is phenomenally well directed by Kevin Macdonald and edited by Justine Wright to bring out every bit of scary volatility in the most casual interactions.
09/25/06
Top CriticWhitaker has done some surpassingly gentle and rueful work in the past, but for this role he has transformed himself -- he’s either sprawled in a stupor or alarmingly mobile, throwing his big body around the room as if it weighed nothing.
09/25/06
Top CriticStarts well, but trips over preposterous plot developments as it pushes toward its climax.
09/23/06
Top CriticOne 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.
09/21/06
Forest Whitaker shines in this high voltage portrayal of the maniacal and maniacally charming Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.
09/21/06
Forest Whitaker makes the case for a best-actor Oscar or, even better, a best-actor designation from NY Film Critics Online.
09/21/06
A stinging rebuke to both do-gooder white-man's-burden fantasies and the disingenuous, Africa-exoticizing movies that promote them.
09/20/06
Forest Whitaker's performance as Idi Amin is so good it's scary.
09/19/06
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.
09/18/06
McDonald gets the relationship between the two central characters so right, makes it so fascinating, that more historical detail would have been a distraction.
09/09/06
This politicized Faustian tale is a provocative and shrewd blend of fact and fiction in the case of a naive doctor seduced into Amin's political apparatus, but film suffers from problems of other political-horror sagas told from strictly white POV.
09/08/06
An extraordinary piece about naivete caught up in terrible events.
09/04/06
Latest News for The Last King of Scotland
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December 06, 2007:
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November 14, 2007:
British Screenwriters Voice Support for Writers' Strike
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