Idi Amin’s Charisma Carries The Last King of Scotland, Even Where Its Script Drags

James McAvoy plays a young doctor named Nicholas Garrigan who lands in Uganda just as the country is falling apart. The film opens in 1970, with Garrigan graduating from the University of Edinburgh Medical School and deciding he wants adventure rather than the ordinary life waiting for him back home. He travels to Uganda to work at a missionary clinic run by David Merrit and his wife, Sarah.

Soon after he arrives, General Idi Amin overthrows President Milton Obote in a coup. Amin gives a speech that wins him favor with the crowd, but Sarah remains doubtful about what is coming next. Garrigan is called to a car accident where Amin is hurt, and he treats Amin’s hand. During the incident, Garrigan takes a gun and shoots a mortally wounded cow when no one else is willing to put it out of its misery.

Trailer, via SearchlightPictures.

Amin Warms Up to the Doctor

Initially hostile to Garrigan, Amin warms up to him after discovering he is Scottish. Amin has a fondness for things of Scotland, and Garrigan’s nationality becomes the key to winning his trust. Delighted by Garrigan’s quick thinking, Amin trades clothing with him and then invites Garrigan to serve as his personal physician. He also asks Garrigan to lead efforts to modernize the Ugandan healthcare system.

As Garrigan works closer to Amin, he becomes a trusted confidant and is given wider duties, including matters of state. He watches as Amin cracks down on political opposition, and he accepts Amin’s explanation that this will bring lasting peace to Uganda. Garrigan also learns that Amin has set aside one of his three wives, Kay, because she gave birth to a child with epilepsy, a boy named Mackenzie.

Garrigan’s Growing Doubt

Garrigan and Kay start to form a bond while treating Mackenzie, and Garrigan’s feelings toward Amin grow darker as he sees more of the president’s cruelty. Amin grows paranoid, orders murders, and shows open dislike for people who are not of his own race. Garrigan tries to announce his plan to leave, but Amin stops him.

At a party, Garrigan avoids a dancer assigned to be his lover and ends up having sex with Kay. She tells him he must flee quickly.

Forest Whitaker’s Performance

Forest Whitaker plays Amin, and his performance is the reason the film holds together. His Amin is magnetic, charming, and utterly murderous, all at once. He carries the film with a presence that feels both terrifying and hypnotic. McAvoy is strong opposite him, playing Garrigan’s slow slide from curious adventurer to trapped observer with real feeling.

Kerry Washington plays Kay Amin, and her scenes with McAvoy carry some of the film’s most human weight. Simon McBurney and Gillian Anderson round out the cast as a British diplomat and Sarah Merrit, respectively, giving the film a solid supporting frame around its central pair.

Where the Story Falls Short

The film’s problem is its pacing. The middle stretch drags, with long stretches devoted to Garrigan’s daily routine at Amin’s side that don’t add much new information. The script, written by Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock, leans on flashbacks and narration to fill in gaps, and these sometimes feel like filler rather than storytelling.

The film’s politics are also blunt. Garrigan’s acceptance of Amin’s repression is treated as a character flaw rather than a complex moral question, and the film doesn’t spend enough time exploring why someone might believe a dictator’s promises before seeing his true nature.

The Final Stretch

The film builds to a climax where Garrigan finally understands fully what he has gotten himself into. The ending is grim, and it leaves Garrigan with no easy way out of the situation he has found himself in.

The Last King of Scotland is a well-made, often chilling portrait of a man caught in a terrible moment in history. Whitaker’s performance is the reason it succeeds. The film drags in parts and its politics are thin, but the central tension between Garrigan and Amin never loses its power.

Key Facts Box

• Director: Kevin Macdonald
• Writers: Jeremy Brock, Peter Morgan
• Runtime: 123 minutes
• Release: World premiere at Telluride Film Festival on 1 September 2006
• UK release: 12 January 2007
• German release: 15 March 2007
• Budget: $6 million
• Gross: $48.4 million
• Whitaker won the Academy Award for Best Actor

Release Schedule

The film is at its best when it focuses on the strange friendship between Garrigan and Amin, and at its weakest when it loses sight of the stakes. It is a demanding watch, and it asks the audience to sit with a man who has made a terrible bargain. That demand is rarely met, but when it is, the film earns its weight.

drama · Forest Whitaker · Idi Amin · James McAvoy · movie review