if he's the last king of scotland, then i'm the queen of england

now for something different. i don't normally watch historical dramas. most of them aren't always true to life and play up the less important events surrounding the bigger issue. (see titanic, well don't see it... i'm just using it as an example) the last king of scotland, however, didn't disappoint me like the others that i've seen. yes there was some fabricated drama, but i felt as though the story was primarily supposed to be about nick and amin's relationship. this could have been turned into some abysmal love story between nick and kay [amin], and how nick wanted to avenge her by killing amin. no. wrong. the writers/director/producer stuck to emphasizing amin and his brutality, with his people, his wives, and his "most trusted advisers."

to be quite honest with you, i didn't (still don't) know that much about idi amin. i knew he was a terrible person and that he was the president of uganda in the 70's. that's about it. the movie doesn't really get in to many details as to why he killed all those people, which is kind of nice, otherwise it might have been too documentary-ish. but you still get the sense of how dangerous this man was because of the ways he treated others, mainly nick.

forest whitaker 100% deserved that oscar last year. his performance was stunning. i feel like it's hard for "the bad guys" to win awards for some reason. yes they get noms, but it seems to me like because they are "bad" they usually don't win. there also aren't a whole ton of movies with evil genocidian psychopaths as the lead role either. so maybe that's got something to do with it.

james mcavoy. well we all already know how i feel about this slice of heaven. so you could get a good return on your bet if you put money on me saying he was excellent in this role. his (nick's) naivete/ignorance to the evils of amin and his willingness to become absorbed in the high life of ugandan society were beautifully portrayed. he was completely convincing and you could easily empathize with him when he finally came to realization of how deeply he was in trouble. he also deserved the noms and awards he got for this role.

the setting and costumes were great. i liked how there was equal portrayal of the highs and lows of the society. its hard to believe that there are almost two separate societies within one country, the (literally) dirt poor and the wealthy, and there there is almost no middle ground/class. you are one or the other. it is also interesting to note how each of the two classes have an equal chance at death, one from natural causes, and the other from assassination.

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the last king of scotland - b+
-t