Recent Movies (3)

The Last King of Scotland. James McAvoy, whose winning smile leaves me cold, travels from Scotland to Uganda to seek his fortune. Improbably, he falls into the good graces of Idi Amin and becomes the dictator’s personal physician. Amin is played, of course, by Forest Whitaker, who in and of himself is the main reason to watch this movie. His performance is so good because he understands how to project power. We can feel a room get bigger when he walks into it, and we feel compelled to laugh at his jokes and accept his questionable advice as wisdom. Alongside him, McAvoy is just a distraction. We see far too much of him and not nearly enough of Whitaker. The silly and predictable storyline follows McAvoy’s shift from a naive idealist who believes in Amin, to a corrupt cynic who is afraid of him. It’s unfortunate that the story is told from his perspective when he is a pathetic character of no importance. It would be an interesting alternative to film the entire movie from Amin’s point of view, or from that of another African.

Comments

[daniel]

But he is so pretty!!!

[Avery Palmer]

I would love to see him in another movie. I don't think "Becoming Jane" is going to do it for me.