The Last King of Scotland

For whatever reason, I think this movie is older - and I didn't see it in theaters.

I didn't read the novel, and it is heavily fictionalized. McAvoy was really good and held his own, but it is Whitaker's definitive performance.

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it is heavily fictionalized.

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It is fictionalized in the sense that the Nicholas' character didn't exist but rather was an amalgamation of multiple individuals. He was placed into the movie so that he could be the observer through whose eyes they could tell the story.

Amin's character and the situation in Uganda at the time weren't really fictionalized much at all. All of his mannerisms and the specific actions in the movie were pretty historically accurate. The way he'd tell Nicholas one day he was "just a dr" and then flip the next and praise him is directly from accounts of Amin's behavior. There were actual rumors that one of his wives had an affair and he did to her what he did in the movie. The press conference scene was a straight-up reenactment, etc.

Spectacular freakin movie though. Whitaker absolutely deserved his Oscar for it.

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He was placed into the movie so that he could be the observer through whose eyes they could tell the story.

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I understand this - the risk of telling it from Amin's perspective was too great. A lot of ways to do it and this isn't the worst way to go. I just remind people of this when they rely on movies for "history". In this case, the Amin portrayal appears fairly accurate.

When you think of the great biographical performances of the past 50 years - George C. Scott's Patton, PSH's Capote, Jamie Foxx's Ray (Charles), and Forest Whitaker's Last King of Scotland (Amin) probably form the short list.

This movie was freaking awesome. Forest murdered it. He even got the accent down. I need to watch it again. I am a sucker for this kinds of movies.

yes the airport hooks scene scared me for awhile.

Very good movie.

But this movie is fiction.

Very little of this actually happened, aside from Idi Amin being a real person who was a dictator who chose odd people to trust.

I didnt think Leo's Blood Diamond performance was Oscar worthy at all. Maybe I'm missing something.

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As much as I love Leo, he never deserved to win any Oscar he was nominated for and it was far from stolen in either case. Jamie Fox and Forrest Whitaker were the runaway favorites the years they were nominated and swept every major awards show including the Oscars. Leo did win a Golden Globe for The Aviator, but that was only because Foxx was nominated in the Musical or Comedy category instead of Drama. Leo's a great actor and I think he'll get his one day, but he hasn't earned it yet.

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We'll agree to disagree, but it goes along with My Left Foot and The Theory of Everything: you do a biopic of someone with a disability and you're gonna get the gold

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Leo did win a Golden Globe for The Aviator

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Leo's best performance, IMHO.

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Foxx was nominated in the Musical or Comedy category instead of Drama

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I really was stunned by Foxx's Ray Charles - I consider him a better actor than one might expect, given his background - and certainly he showed some chops in Collateral (and that was against Cruise in probably his best role, perhaps excepting Magnolia) - overall, role-for-fole, Foxx is not nearly the actor that Leo is - but in this case, I wouldn't have voted for Foxx, head-to-head.

(And, to keep this relevant, Whitaker is better than both - even in throwaway roles, Fast Times or Color of Money, or an extended run on a television series, The Shield, that's an intense cat - and he brings it every scene.)