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Dom Robinson reviews 
- Cert:
- Cat.no: 3249501000
- Running time: 118 minutes
- Year: 2006
- Pressing: 2007
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 28 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English for the hard of hearing
- Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Super 35)
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras: Deleted/Alternate Scenes, Capturing Idi Amin, Forest Whitaker: Idi Amin, Fox Movie Channel presents: Casting Session, Theatrical Trailer, Audio Commentary.
Director:
- Kevin Macdonald
(The Last King of Scotland, My Enemy’s Enemy, State of Play, Touching the Void)
Producers:
- Andrea Calderwood, Lisa Bryer and Charles Steel
Screenplay:
- Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock (based on the book by Giles Foden)
Music :
- Alex Heffes
Cast :
- General Idi Amin Dada: Forest Whitaker
Dr Nicholas Garrigan: James McAvoy
Kay Amin: Kerry Washington
Sarah Merrit: Gillian Anderson
Nigel Stone: Simon McBurney
Dr Thomas Junju: David Oyelowo
Jonah Wasswa: Stephen Rwangyezi
Masanga: Abby Mukiibi
Dr David Merrit: Adam Kotz
Mrs Garrigan: Barbara Rafferty
Dr Garrigan (senior): David Ashton
I didn’t know a massive amount about Idi Amin’s reign of terror when I sat down to watch The Last King of Scotland, but it was certainly enlightening.
Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) is a young doctor who’s only just graduated and is eager to break out of the shackles of his restrictive home life. Spinning the globe, promising to head off to the first place he stops with his finger, he goes for his second chance… Uganda.
By going to work there for the local mission, he’s led to believe that Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker) is a man who will help the people following the dreadful regime that they’re coming to the end of, but all he sees is death, disease and destruction. Working with two doctors out in the back of beyond, the female half of the couple, Sarah Merrit (Gillian Anderson) tells Nick that all the new guy is promising is empty rhetoric, stating that he’ll be just the same as Obote, a leader who started off well but eventually ended up using the economy as his personal bank account. Nick suggests Sarah should give Amin a chance when he witnesses the people’s cheers and excitement, but then he’s very wet behind the ears in many respects.
So, Amin talks the talk, but does he walk the walk? Amin is ex-British Army and was helped by the Scottish when he fought with them against the Mau Mau, so when he gets to meet Nick and learns that he is from Scotland, he quickly offers him the job of his personal physician, previously held by Dr Junju (Spooks‘ David Oyelowo) who he will come to work with later on down at the hospital. Garrigan is over the moon once he takes it all in, since he trusts the President implicitly.
What could be better for him? He gets to live in luxury but it comes at the price of coming across Obote’s men when he’s got other tasks on his mind, and this starts to sow the germ in his mind that Amin might not be quite on the level. Of course, all politicians are just in it for themselves, but this one really takes the biscuit. As time passes, he learns about Amin’s darker sides and what he’s really about and he wants out, but it’s not an easy ask, even going to the point of begging British consulate bod Nigel Stone, who he really can’t stand, for help in escaping but there’s no quick ‘get out of jail free’ cards on offer here, even after Stone tells him that anyone who dares speak out against of Amin ends up disappearing without a trace.
To make matters worse, Nick takes a shine to Amin’s third wife, Kay (Kerry Washington), but if you go dipping your wick in one of the boss’ wives then expect a none-too-generous reception if and when the big man gets to find out. In fact this isn’t the only thing that makes him mad. Amin becomes increasingly erratic during his Presidency and Whitaker puts on a blinding performance as a man who goes from one personality change to another and back again.
Where does the title come from? Well, Amin declares himself as the last king of Scotland because he says the Scottish have seen how he has defeated the English in Uganda, and that they want him to do the same for him there. Oh, if he says that then it must be true(!)
In addition, with his riding roughshod over everyone and wishing he could fill his cabinet with Scots, it feels like New Labour has come 25 years too early(!)
At first I thought this might try to portray the Ugandan dictator in a sympathetic light, rather like Downfall
did with Hitler, but it did not. We simply get to see as much as Nick sees, since it follows his story. And while there was no Nick Garrigan in real life, Amin did have a number of personal physicians during his time in power so this film takes extracts from each of them.
It’s also interesting to note that The Last King of Scotland was also filmed in Uganda. It’s not often a film will actually be made abroad in the country where it happened, so it’s welcome that this was done here so as to capture the feel of the place.
About the casting in this movie, Whitaker and McAvoy were the perfect choice for their respective roles. The former does exactly what it says on the tin – I mean, above – and is 100% convincing in his performance as he starts off playing it like everybody’s best friend, and then later when we see the real Amin come through. The latter is perfect for seeing him go from being as green as grass in his innocence to, little by little, working out precisely what is going on. David Oyelowo is one of the best up-and-coming actors of his generation and was exceptional last year in BBC2’s Shoot the Messenger, but when it comes to the rest, Kerry Washington doesn’t get much to play with other than to stare longingly at McAvoy and if you blink then you’ll miss Gillian Anderson.
Credit should also go for Simon McBurney not only for his slimy performance as the man from the British consulate, Nigel Stone, but also because he’s married to Romper Stomper Aussie hottie Jacqueline McKenzie. Lucky man…
I had no complaints with the sound and vision. The picture is superb in the 2.35:1 anamorphic Panavision widescreen ratio with zero artifacts and a cracking transfer, bringing to life the harsh society portrayed onscreen and clever use of cinematography with the camera zooming in on certain elements of the picture, at times, done so to heighten the atmosphere
For the sound, we’re given just a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, but it still makes good use of audio when gunfire rears its ugly head and for atmospheric purposes when Amin’s life is in danger.
The extras are as follows:
- Deleted/Alternate Scenes (11:58): 7 are featured here, all with optional director’s commentary, and all presented in something close to 4:3 which indicates that the film was shot in Super 35, given the extra height top and bottom in the alternate scenes.
Of the seven, including a nod to him becoming the heavyweight boxing champion of Uganda in the ’50s and the adoration he would like to experience later in life, there’s nothing apart from the last one that I’d particularly rush to include or put in the alternate version of, though.
- Capturing Idi Amin (29:05): On camera, that is, as the dictator’s atrocities are explained and we find out how a film was decided to be made, courtesy of director Kevin Macdonald, Forest Whittaker, James McAvoy and several other cast and crew members including one of the real doctors who treated Amin as a physician. The documentary is narrated by Peter Capaldi.
- Forest Whitaker: Idi Amin (6:00): Presented in 4:3 with letterboxed 2.35:1 clips, as with the next supplemental, the main man talks about why he wanted to take on such a role, although it’s done as nothing more than a promotional puff piece.
- Fox Movie Channel presents: Casting Session (8:36): More promotional fluff, this time about who they should cast as Amin.
- Theatrical trailer (2:14): Shown in letterboxed 2.35:1 and should only be watched after the event so it doesn’t give anything away, as well as making a couple of scenes make it look like they play out differently than they do in the film.
- Audio commentary: From director Kevin Macdonald.
Before the film starts there are letterboxed trailers for Rocky Balboa, Notes on a Scandal, The Fountain, Pathfinder and Sunshine, but I wish they wouldn’t put them at the front of the disc. What do they think the Extras section is for?
There are 28 chapters for this film which is a good amount for something running almost two hours long, subtitles come in English only and the menus feature short extracts from the soundtrack, repeated endlessly which does drive you up the wall after a while.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL 
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.