King's Dominion

Saw The Last King of Scotland, finally. It's been out here in D.C. since October, but the stars have been aligned against me seeing it--until now. The script is smart, naturalistic, always moving without ever feeling like the scenes were being dragged by the plot tractor (though I preferred Peter Morgan's screenplay for The Queen). Kevin MacDonald's direction was also sharp: lots of topsy turvy hand-held camera work and yellowed film stock to give the piece an aged documentary feel. Mostly, though, he had the smarts to get out of the way and let Forest Whitaker rage and bellow his way through the film. With all the hype surrounding Whitaker's performance, I was expecting to be disappointed, but it's every bit as good as you've heard, maybe better. The range, the naturalism, the quick shifts of tone; if I hadn't seen Whitaker in any number of other movies, I'd be convinced that the guy was some sort of manic menace. The decision to show actual photos of Amin at the end was smart; Whitaker looks eerily like him. McAvoy did a nice job as the flip young idealist who must face up to the hard truth, but this is Whitaker's movie all the way.