Movie Review: "The Last King of Scotland" (2006)

This film recounts the relationship between heinous Ugandan strongman Idi Amin and his personal physician, a young Scottish lad fresh out of school, over the course of the 1970s. Amin, warm and approachable one minute yet megalomaniacal and ruthless the next, is played by Forest Whitaker who is likely to win the Oscar for best actor, however, in my opinion, the actor who plays the doctor should have garnered a nomination over Whitaker.

This film is difficult to watch at times, in part because it doesn't shy away from demonstrating the brutal reality that corruption, bad economics and the cult of personality are primarily responsible for the problems of many African nations. That said, it's largely unremarkable. Both "Hotel Rwanda" and "Blood Diamond" are more interesting if you're in the market for a tale about the difficulties faced by the Dark Continent.

(In the interests of full disclosure, I must also add that I fell asleep for what my buddy said was a good half-hour about halfway through this flick, having had a little too much fun the night before singing Toby Keith tunes at my neighborhood karaoke bar.)

Overall rating: 6.25/10