One Word Movie

The Last King of Scotland

People always accused Forest Whitaker of being a good actor, but I thought that must be like the customer service on Virgin trains - you read a lot about it but never actually see any. Dude was in Battlefield Earth for god's sake. I did like him in Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai (good) but he hardly taxes himself in that.

Well, all I can say is that he is completely triumphant as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, and if you could discern that talent from his performances in films like Species (shit) or Phenomenon (shit) you are more than welcome to eat my tins of mackeral, write this blog, and put my bets on. Essentially he plays the most nightmarish boss that you ever had - alternately charming and psychotic - except that rather than make you cry in the stinky work bogs, he'd prefer to play Mr Potatohead with your arms and legs.

It's shot documentary-style by Kevin MacDonald (the Touching the Void geezer) which works, and it makes you want to go to Uganda in the 70s, so that adds up to it being good. Incidentally, Kevin MacDonald's next film apparently features Klaus Barbie and Adolf Hitler as themselves. Nice. I am not sure if I want to go to any of his dinner parties any more.

posted by Chairman Peyote @ 12:28 PM