The Last King of Scotland

"The Last King of Scotland" views the real life reign of Idi Amin through a fictional perspective. James McAvoy is the callow, brash young Nicholas Garrigan, a Scottish doctor in Uganda who falls under the spell of the charming yet monstrous dictator, but the film belongs to Forest Whitaker, whose fierce and ferocious performance as Amin earned him the well-deserved Oscar for Best Actor this year. Bigger than life, volatile, unstable, whipping from childlike generosity to ferocious vengeance to crippling paranoia in seconds, it's the kind of role that invites accolades and Whitaker deserves them all as the mesmerizing dictator and despot who charmed the world's press while unleashing a brutal reign of terror on his own people. This is the first dramatic fiction from award-winning documentary director Kevin MacDonald and he fills the frame with vivid details of the era, but he also creates a fascinating figure in Garrigan, a weak, willfully oblivious bystander who plays the callow sidekick and embraces the decadence of his world without acknowledging Amin's brutality or his own responsibility. Gillian Anderson co-stars and Kerry Washington plays one of Amin's wives, who Garrigan falls for against all consideration for her safety.

The 30-minute documentary "Capturing Idi Amin" uses the production as a jumping-off point to examine the complex relationship of Amin to the Ugandan people (decades later he is still a beloved and almost mythic figure to many) and the prosperity he brought the country under his brutal reign. Even his most vehement critics have a grudging admiration for her early strides. Macdonald's dry commentary track is full of the usual production facts and back stories with a choice few insights ("he's like a battered housewife; he can't escape from this relationship.... Amin has complete control over Garrigan") and the 15 minutes of deleted and alternate scenes feature an interesting unused prologue but no major revelations and are best viewed with the commentary for context and explanation. The usual promotional featurettes fill out the rest of the disc.