Director Kevin Macdonald’s Last King of Scotland is an engaging masterpiece. Powerful and at times disturbing, Last King offers a story of power, corruption and relentless brutality. Whitaker’s performance, which earned his nomination in this year’s Academy Awards as the Best Leading Actor, casts a brilliant shadow over the film’s various other deserving qualities.
The charmingly grainy cinematography of Anthony Dod Mantle propels the viewer into the 1970s with hectic and bustling camera work. With on-location filming in Uganda, Africa, Last King, thrives on the visual reality of the exploited nation. Mantle’s cinema-graphic work in Last King won him a Best Technical Achievement award at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards. The on-screen sights are unfamiliar yet tantalizing to the vast majority of viewers-ethnic dances, missionary camps, military men with guns slung over their shoulder at every bus stop and street corner.
Unlike fellow Oscar contender and African based film, Blood Diamond, Last King doesn’t initially give the impression that it’ll be painted in blood. But in Uganda, naivety is short lived. Despite a handful of sickening images, the film succeeds at delivering action without the usual necessity of non-stop bloodshed. The little violence that is present does more than enough to satiate even the hardest shelled desensitization. And then there’s Whitaker.
While ego-obsessed characters have charmed the silver screen since the early days of cinema, it’s fair to say that few actors are capable of pulling it off. The Texas-born actor’s depiction of former the Ugandan president gives a fresh meaning to megalomania.
Last King is a story of historic fiction centering on Nicholas Garrigan (played by James McAvoy) a young Scottish doctor who takes a job as Ugandan President Idi Amin’s personal physician shortly after his rise to political power. Idealism seems to be Garrigan’s initial flaw. Fresh out of med-school, and with the original intention to work as a Ugandan missionary, his youthful romanticism draws him to Amin’s magnetism like a polar opposite. The two become unlikely pals, and Garrigan is quickly seduced by the palace life. Women, luxury and foreign exoticism, Ugandan life seems lovely to the young doctor until gruesome truths of reality open his eyes to the world outside the palace walls.
No stranger to ups and downs, most cinema goers are more than capable of smelling a “bad guy” minutes after the opening credits. But Whitaker does himself justice. The actor’s portrayal of the larger-than-life president initially seduces audiences with good humor and amiable personality quirks before the character’s horrid colors start to show. Garrigan’s admiration for Amin dissolves as the irking underbelly of power and corruption is exposed little by little; hence, persistent suspense. Playing the role of missionary Sarah Merrit, a familiar yet improved Gillian Anderson (X-Files) did little to disappoint, and even less to impress. Kerry Washington’s role as Amin’s unfaithful wife, Kay, is played nicely, but has a “nothing exceptional” ring to it. The same can be said for McAvoy, whose leading role in Last King drew international recognition for the 28-year-old Scot. Garrigan’s character is somewhere between likeable and heroic, but McAvoy’s performance is just likeable. The actor’s ambition seems a little overplayed, as does his cowering intimidation when in the presence of the overbearing dictator.
Obviously in the midst of an award typhoon, if the supporting cast seems subpar, it’s not because they are mediocre actors (For her role, Washington was nominated for an Image award and a Black Reel award, and McAvoy won a BAFTA award for Best Supporting actor). It’s because Whitaker’s blazon performance makes the film. The actor engulfs the screen much like his character’s persona overwhelms a room. His buoyant presence transfixes with charisma just as a dictator should, which may explain his roughly 20 other nominations or wins, including; a Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Drama, a Screen Actor’s Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, a Satellite Award, New York Film Critics Circle Award and an L.A. Film Critics Association Award to name a few.
All in all, Last King is worth much more than its theater ticket or DVD purchase price. Not only does this film address and expose issues of government corruption and politically enforced homicide still plaguing African nations today, but it does so with clout. A hammering leading performance by Whitaker, and the distanced yet unsettling circumstances in Last King are capable of leaving viewers’ lungs bereft of steady breath.
