Monday, August 28, 2006

First Thoughts on the Last King of Scotland

I finally got a chance today to watch the trailer for the upcoming film The Last King of Scotland.

This film is striking and very interesting.

It tells the real life story of Idi Amin, the dictator of Uganda during the 1970s. Forest Whitaker plays the part of the dictator, in a compelling way that will surely garner him Academy Award attention.

The buzz for Whitaker has been around all year, but The Last King of Scotland tells the stories from the perspective of Idi Amin's personal physician, Nicholas Garrigan, a young adventursome guy from Scotland. This role is played by James McAvoy who played the part of Mr. Tumnus the Faun in the most recent adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

I was very impressed with McAvoy's portrayl of Mr. Tumnus, and I think that his role in The Last King of Scotland could garner him some critical attention. I'll be interested to see if this is the case.

For whatever reason, the preview for this film, directed by Kevin Macdonald, looks like it could be a very compelling and unique film, or a snoozer with some powerful acting by Forest Whitaker and company. In some ways this trailer reminds me in some faint way of Fernando Meirelles great film City of God, but with expectations like that I'm only setting myself up to be disappointed.

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, a comparison with City of God will get you nothing but disappointment. I was even afraid to keep it in mind when I went to see The Constant Gardener the first time.

But if you've seen MacDonald's last film, Touching the Void, you know the guy's got his own unique vision and talents. And I love Whitaker's acting (The Crying Game, Ghost Dog, Smoke).

The hard part is that there are so many interesting films coming out that I probably won't be able to see this in the theatre. Oh well.

Paula said...

That looks like an intense film!

Sameer Vasta said...

I can't wait to see this one open at the festival in a few weeks. As a person whose family was kicked out of Uganda by Idi Amin, this is definitely a film I can't afford to miss.

walypala said...

Looks impressive.

I fell in love with McAvoy in the brilliant Channel 4 series Shameless. He has an amazing charisma and he can act his heart out.

Sadie Lou said...

I was wondering what happened to Forest Witaker. He did some fabulous movies early in his career and then he just made some poor choices. I'm glad he's coming back in a big way--I think he's very capable.
I liked that kid that played Mr. Tumnus as well. He took a part that could have been done WAY too over the top and he gave it a nice, boy-next door quality.

Art said...

Sounds like a movie I'd see. If I saw movies:) Maybe I'll catch it when it comes out on DVD.

Forrest Whitaker is a great actor though. And casting him as Idi Amin - I mean, who else?

The Ayatollah Of RocknRolla said...

I am really looking forward to seeing this movie. I read the book by Giles Foden last year and think it will transfer well to the big screen.

Maureen McGowan said...

I'm seeing this one at the TIFF. I had Catch A Fire down as a second choice I think...

Facinated by the idea of Forest Whitaker playing Idi Amin. Couldn't miss this one.