Whitaker takes the crown in 'Scotland'

Living in Scotland in the 1970s, a new young doctor decides to spin a globe with his eyes closed and make a new life for himself wherever his finger happens to point when the globe stops spinning. "The Last King of Scotland" is partly about choice and partly about fate. It is fate we witness when Dr. Nicholas Garrigan's finger lands on Uganda, and it is the choices he makes that concern the rest of the film.\nWith so much being said of Forest Whitaker's remarkable performance as Ugandan Dictator Idi Amin, it is unfortunate that James McAvoy, as the disillusioned young doctor Garrigan, has failed to receive the praise he deserves for his part, which is after all, the lead. Every scene that involves Whitaker involves McAvoy; the film is meant to show you the dictator through his eyes. \nThe film follows Garrigan as he joins a mission in Uganda, determined to make a difference in the world and determined to rebel against his father's idea of an austere, professional doctor. On the day of his arrival, the newly minted president has assumed control of the government, the result of a coup sponsored by the British. \nGarrigan meets Amin in a village after the president wounds his hand and the two share a few interesting, almost romantic moments discussing Scotland and the new Uganda. Garrigan is offered a job as Amin's personal physician and quickly becomes indispensable to the president. He is so caught up in his newfound power, social status and wealth that he is blinded to the escalating turmoil in the world around him. \nIt is this relationship, and Garrigan's spiral into the dark underbelly of Amin's reign, that Director Kevin Macdonald chooses to focus on. He looks inward at the implosive reality of Amin's private world instead of outward at the political upset and genocide that engulfed the country during his rule. His maddening charm seems at times to overpower his actual madness in the public eye. Indeed, the historical fact of Amin's perpetuated genocide and virtual eradication of all political opposition isn't really revealed until three-fourths of the way through the film.\n"The Last King of Scotland" has numerous strengths, most notably Jeremy Brock's impressive screenwriting and Macdonald's intricate camerawork. These strengths are hindered by a few noticeable weaknesses -- specifically the choice to focus on the relationship between Garrigan and Amin, which leaves the viewer to wonder why history remembers Amin as such a bad guy. \nCloaking the reality of the genocide may have seemed like the best way to show the madness of Amin's personal life to the viewers, but it is clear the filmmakers were mistaken in this decision when the film devolves into a sort of thriller toward the end. \nWeaknesses aside, the film has its accomplishments as will undoubtedly be noticed throughout awards season, especially for Whitaker's performance. It's refreshing to see a character study this involving -- especially one that features Africa for a change.