Synopsis
Young Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan decides it's time for an adventure after he finishes his formal education, so he decides to try his luck in Uganda, and arrives during the downfall of President Obote. General Idi Amin comes to power and asks Garrigan to become his personal doctor.
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Cast
- Forest WhitakerIdi Amin
- James McAvoyDr. Nicholas Garrigan
- Simon McBurneyBritish Diplomat
- Gillian AndersonSarah Merrit
- Kerry WashingtonKay Amin
- David OyelowoDr. Thomas Junju
- Abby Mukiibi NkaagaMasanga
- Adam KotzDr. David Merrit
- Barbara RaffertyMrs. Garrigan
- David AshtonDr. Garrigan - Senior
- 90
New York Magazine (Vulture)
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. - 90
Newsweek
Forest Whitaker, uncorking the power that he usually holds in check, gives a chilling, bravura performance as Ugandan tyrant Idi Amin, whose bloody regime slaughtered more than 300,000 people. This intelligent, sometimes gruesome thriller is based on a novel by Giles Foden. - 80
Los Angeles Times
Captures the energy and exuberance of a young nation in the throes of optimism and works it into a foreboding frenzy. - 75
Premiere
Whitaker's Amin is the kind of raging lunatic that only an actor who has made a specialty of quiet caginess could pull off so convincingly. It's great, and scary, to see Whitaker turn it up to 11 for once. - 75
ReelViews
Director Kevin Macdonald has fashioned a film that is at times nearly as harrowing as his previous endeavor, "Touching the Void." - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
An imaginative and original picture turns conventional as it ends. - 70
Variety
In the end, The Last King of Scotland is much better when it plays it cool and amusing than when it tries to ramp up outrage and indignation. - 70
The New Yorker
Whitaker, in the performance of a lifetime, makes him (Idi Amin) a charismatic madman.