Short review: The Last King of Scotland

I did not like this movie. I only went because one of the folks in my group insisted. The acting was fine--Forest Whitaker, as always, was excellent and, chillingly, quite convincing as Idi Amin. I recalled him, dimly, from my childhood and that he was a very bad man. In at least the first half of the film there is quite a bit of humor. But, do we need another film about Africa from the perspective of a white guy? For the most part, while I didn't like the white guy hero very much, I bought the story. However, the end of the film, which hinges on the raid on Entebbe, was preposterous. Completely unbelievable! Argh. Also, even the humor is hard to enjoy because, knowing that this is Uganda, under Amin, nothing good is going to happen. In fact, only bad things are going to happen--to everyone except the white guy hero. (Note: the film features an almost unrecognizable Gillian Anderson in a substantial supporting role. She sports blond hair and a most convincing British accent. Turns out she's a natural blond and lived in England from age 2 to 11! Who knew?)