By now I am certain you have heard all of the Oscar-buzz surrounding Forest Whitaker and his portrayal of Idi Amin in this film.  Does he deserve to win?  I am not sure, especially since I haven't seen some of the performances he is up against.  But he does deliver a powerful screen presence in this film.

The movie is based on a fictional young Scottish doctor who leaves home to escape the boredom of joining his father in family practice.  Randomly Dr. Nicholas Garrigan chooses Uganda as the place to "have an adventure."  He arrives just as Idi Amin has taken power in a coup, but like everything else around him, Garrigan sees that as simply part of the canvas his adventure has been painted on.  However, his populistic Scottish side sees the crowds of celebrating citizens and hopes for true change within the government.

After working at a remote clinic for a short time (alongside another English doctor and his wife - played by The X-Files Gillian Anderson) by change Garrigan is called upon to examine General Amin's hand after a car accident.  He impresses Amin with his enthusiasm and outspokenness so much that Amin offers him the position as his personal physician.  At first turning him down, Garrigan has second thoughts and decides to accept.

From this very personal vantage point we are witness to Amin's violent ways, his mental instability - and his immense charm.  Garrigan watches as the walls begin to close in on Amin's regime and on himself, yet Amin's charisma make it hard for him (like the rest of the world) to believe the horrible things he hears from the outside world.  It isn't until Garrigan becomes personally involved in the removal of a supposed Amin foe - and until he is forced to view photos of the atrocities taking place all over the county - that he is convinced the cause he had tried to hard to believe in was more of what Africa had suffered through for years: ruling parties enriching themselves, killing their opponents, and ignoring the general population.

Little of the actual killing Amin is responsible for shows up on screen.  But the violence is all around Garrigan, and around us, until we feel like we are stuck in a war zone with little hope of escape. 

The film is suspenseful, enlightening, and powerful...not as powerful as Whitaker, but still worth seeing.  I give it a B+.