THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND (2006) *** In which we are reminded of the kind, gentle, benevolent, altruistic nature of compromised leaders like Reagan, Thatcher and Blair, Fidel Castro. At least they weren't fucking Idi Amin. Forest Whitaker got the Oscar for this, and he definitely develops a playful, childlike side of the ruthless dictator that hasn't received much attention, or been celebrated. While the film is brutal in places, the motivation and circumstance that brought out Amin's darkest demons (Hitler league) are never as clear to me; he just looks like another dictator trying to hold on to power in the midst of chaos. That may have been all there was to it, but I was left wondering about something more. This is well done, but a much better treatment of how basically good guys are driven to horrendous things for their love of power is readily available at your local book shop in the form of Gabriel García Márquez' The Autumn of the Patriarch. Which is just for your information, not to knock the film, which is very good, just not as good as I sense it had a chance to be. I guess the life lesson is that if you find true love-which admittedly isn't clear here, either-go for Gillian Anderson, even if she's unhappily married. You'll do yourself, and her, a lot more good, and the world at large isn't going to miss out on anything.
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