Film Critique 101

Definitely Keep Your Day Job Forrest…

By: ActressAtHeart

As I cautiously enter a new realm of writing, Film Critique 101, I have to begin with the following reviewer disclaimer… wait, can I have a disclaimer, umm, yeah, I guess I can because it’s my columnJ.

Okay, I have to admit that as an actress at heart, when I see a film in which the lead actors completely submerge themselves in a performance, I get all “goosebumply.” So, needless to say my opinion in my inaugural film review of the Fox Searchlight Production of “The Last King of Scotland” may be just a tad bit biased….

That said, let me begin with a myth that I found during my research about Idi Amin, the Ugandan President about whom the film is based.  The myth states that in his effort to see what it would take to be “President for Life” (a title that he later proclaimed himself to be during his reign), he sought the advice of an Ugandan witchdoctor who told him that in order to accomplish this task, he had to eat the heart of someone he loved dearly.  It is then said that Amin ate the heart of his own son. Now the reality of the situation was that Amin’s son had actually and mysteriously disappeared around this same time….

One might think the aforementioned scenario can’t be anything but a myth, but after seeing the film and taking an in depth look at the man himself, and realizing that he was responsible for the deaths of over 300,000 Ugandans during his presidential term (1971-1979), I am left with the thought that Amin eating his own son’s heart may not be far from the truth.

Based on my research and the fact that thousands of Ugandan men, women, and children were brutally, horrifically, and in many cases, inhumanely slaughtered on Amin’s orders, I can’t help but wonder if one would think of him as a psychopath obsessed with power or a tragic sufferer of bi-polar disorder before it was all the rave it is today.  According to the film, I am inclined to say that the man himself was both.

Set amidst the beautiful backdrop of Uganda, “The Last King of Scotland” is both a wonderful demonstration of the life of a man of power and a chilling look at a man clearly suffering with dual realities.  No, not a battle between his own reality and the world’s reality, but a three-way battle of his own reality, his own reality, and the world’s reality.  I mean he totally believed that he was justified in his actions no matter how inhumane and senseless.  He believed he was fighting for a better Uganda.

Brought amazingly back to life by a true gentle giant of a man – that’s my reality, I mean, I’m such a fan J – Forrest Whitaker, Amin is both a charismatic charmer and a frightening, perfectly paranoid president.  Fun and personable one minute, terrifically terrifying the next.  He is both a hero to his people, and a hypocrite among men.  While he touted Ugandan power – i.e. Black Power to his people and ultimately the world -- he himself practiced many customs held dear to Scottish Europeans -- from entertaining guests in a kilt playing a bagpipe, to naming two of his, ah, African sons Campbell and McKenzie – I know kinda wacky, right J?

Anyway, from the first few seconds of his back (yeah, his back, as in we haven’t even seen his face yet, back) Whitaker exhibits the power of a man obsessed.  A man who truly believes he is just in his actions, and a true voice of his people, or in his words, “I am you and you are me.” 

In the same shot, there are two splashes of white in a sea of black.  One of those splashes of white is Scottish doctor Nicolas Galligan, truthfully played (although the character was fictional) by new comer James McAvoy.  Galligan is the man who is inadvertently wooed into medical servitude by, let’s see, I’ll call him Amin number 1, the charismatic and funny charmer.  To Galligan, this Amin is the image of a leader convicted to bringing Uganda back to power and a possible friend.  This is the Amin that treats him like his own son catering to his every need and offerer of his dream job of Amin’s personal doctor in which Galligan quickly accepts.  It is ultimately, however, Amin number 2, the perfectly paranoid torturous tyrant of terror Galligan later learns to both fear and despise.

The events surrounding this delicate balance of friendship and fear, and power and manipulation are the setting in which Whitaker and McAvoy find a creative chemistry that lulls the viewer into this seemingly perfect relationship.  They are two men, Amin and his Dr. Galligan who at the onset, build their bond based on trust and a mutual respect for one another’s opinions and honesty of conversation.  It is this same trust and honesty that lead Galligan, through a series of events, to see Amin as the monster he is.

Whitaker’s uncanny ability to become two completely different people with just a look or a slight laugh in the same scene within seconds (oh my gosh, here come the goosebumps…) and McAvoy’s amazing ability to walk the thin line of showing both friendship and fear, all at the same time, work extraordinarily well in a film that takes the audience on a journey into the life and mind of a, as described in the media, madman….

The film has not only enabled Forrest to win both the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, but it has also enabled him to receive a nomination for Best Actor in the Crème de la Crème of awards shows, the Golden Ticket, or in this case, the golden bald man, Oscar.  Yes, the Academy Awards (he better win, or I’ll be stark raving mad).  Now why James didn’t receive any award nominations, is beyond me, but then again who am I? That’s probably an article for another time, “Why the Actors I Believe Should be Nominated for Awards Aren’t: A Mystery Among Us,” hmmm….

Oooops, slipped off on a tangent.  Anyway, if you’ve found yourself disappointed and desperately longing for a trip to the box office that is both mesmerizing and memorable – if not for Forrest’s performance alone – then “The Last King of Scotland” is well worth the money.  For me, it was, like I said, I got all “goosebumply.”  If you are looking to be simply entertained and don’t mind exceptionally rich actors ackin’ – my term for actors just delivering lines and not having an understanding of the true essence of their character – then it’s not. It’s just that simple.

One thing however, is certain.  “The Last King of Scotland” is a treasure amidst the current mediocrity of filmmaking that is the Hollywood of Today.