Terrifying insight into paranoiac madness

Based (loosely) on the book of the same name, by Giles Foden, this film has rightly garnered plaudits, and an Oscar, for Forrest Whitaker’s mesmeric turn as the dictator Idi Amin. Equally good is James McAvoy in the role of a naive doctor sucked into Amin’s world.

The true measure of Whitaker’s performance can be seen at the end of the film, as credits roll newsreel footage of the real Amin demonstrates the actor’s total grasp of the intoxicating charm cut through with paranoia and glassy-eyed madness that formed the character of the brutal dictator.

That McAvoy holds the screen opposite Whitaker and retains sympathy given the fecklessness and poor decisions of his character is a testament to his growing stature and the skills of writers. In Garrigan, as well as the meddling of the British government, we see our own fallibility complicit in the creation of a monster.

The film largely deals with the violence and killing offscreen, as reports dismissed by McAvoy’s character, until the torture and bloody madness spills onto the screen in a gruesome final act ensuring the Amin we leave the screen with is the killer and not the cuddly toy.