Customer Reviews
Painful - By: S. Brotherston, 16 Jul 2008 
A skewered plot & an awful performance by James McAvoy combine to make this film a painful viewing experience.
Quality acting and quality film - By: M. P. Barnes, 11 Jun 2008 
Not sure what people who gave this film one star were expecting!
It is an interesting, & disturbing, film, which is similar in some ways to "Killing Fields", whilst being totallly different! (If that makes sense!?)
The two main characters are well-played, & the story - despite one or two "well, I saw that coming" moments - is good, & keeps up a reasonable pace.
For someone I had heard of, but knew little about, this film was a very good starting point, & has prompted me to read further...
Dire overhyped nonsense - By: Craig Alexander, 18 May 2008 
5 Stars?? What level of satisfaction do some people have for a movie. This is a tedious non story whose plot is about as opaque as a broken window. What riled me most was the subtle way the film's credits before & after tried to suggest by association (focussing on what happened to Amin 'after' this) that this film was in some ways an historic document. Once you wake up to the fact the Scottish doctor never existed & that none of this is anything more than fiction in front of an imagined factual backgound you have to ask yourself what is it for. It casts no fresh light on Amin. Its makers could be forgiven if it was a great story well acted, but it is neither (Whiteker's Amin is a masterclass in over playing & McAvoy was a much more convincing character as the boyfriend in Early Doors).
Don't waste your saturday night.
Ugandan discussions - By: Charles Vasey, 04 Mar 2008 
This is a film of two halves. Forrest Whittaker as Idi Amin is an astonishing performance that takes one back to the real man; he imposes himself physicallly & mentallly on the whole film. How unfortunate therefore that so much of the film is James McAvoy smirking fit to bust & playing a thoroughly unbelievable character very loosely based on a much more interesting real person. I am not sure if it is the script or the actor who is to blame, or whether no-one would prevail alongside Whittaker, but sadly it misses opportunities while tantalising with what it could have been.
Overhyped! - By: Inmi Opinion, 28 Feb 2008 This is a well over-hyped film about Idi Amin Dada(played by Forest Whtaker) the lunatic leader of Uganda who self-promoted himself to General among other things & tells the story of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) a young Scotsman who has just qualified as a Doctor & who decides where he wants to work in the world on the spin of a globe in his bedroom.He becomes personal physician to Amin after a short spell working in a local Ugandan hospital which is over-run with work which doesn't appeal to him.Also one of the 2 doctors, played by Gillian Anderson obviously doesn't drop her pants quick enough which causes him to seek the job with Amin. Amin graduallly becomes more detached from reality but not without reason.The reverse of the DVD cover states:contains strong violence,gruesome images,sex & language.I would say possibly there was 1 scene of "something".
