As Idi Amin, Forest Whitaker has finally landed the role requiring every inch of the physical and personal might that he has made a career out of playing against. But however brilliantly he may channel the Ugandan dictator's famed charisma and pathology, this semi-fictionalized biopic is no mere showcase for Whitaker's considerable talents. Rather, The Last King of Scotland chiefly follows a young Scottish doctor (James McAvoy) who treats his time in Africa as a random lark until he's seduced into Amin's inner circle, unaware of the regime's bloodshed. Director Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void) taps his documentarian background to bulk up this timely, frank metaphor about the West's fetishization and miscomprehension of Africa.

- LR

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