I Need a Hug After This Movie

Having read the book a few years ago, and hearing all the buzz around Forrest Whitaker's performance, I was looking forward to seeing this movie. The anticipation was definitely merited. But man...dictator's are MEAN and CRAZY!

Not only is Forrest Whitaker amazing as this large intimidating figure, from an acting standpoint he doesn't have a single scene where he doesn't have to hit about 5 different seriously intense and polar opposite emotions in the space of like 2 minutes. Of course it's this polarity spinning on an axis of paranoia that makes these type of people so terrifying in real life, and so hard to represent on stage or film. The movie ends with footage of the real Idi Amin and, as powerful as Whitaker was, I'd be ten times more afraid to see the real person barrelling down on me in a rage that replaced his good humored smile from mere seconds before.

It's also worth mentioning Gillian Anderson's performance in the small role of a British doctor's wife. I'd like to see David Duchovney be able to find himself a role that he could perform so well as to not even be recognizable by audience members.

The intensity of this movie comes through not only in the performances but the directing style. Shot to mimic the fast zooms and jerky pans found in both 70's jounralism and films, it gives a complete sense of unease coupled with a feeling of being right there that handheld camerawork may have once acchieved in the 90's but now is far too over used. The storyline builds in a way that you know something really bad is going to happen (and is probably already happening) but as you see it through the eyes of this fictional doctor whom Amin kept so close, you have no evidence of the destruction until it's too late.

Having read the book a few years back, I'm pretty sure there's a lot of differences eventwise but the highlights are similiar and both are compelling and suck you in, making it hard to turn away.

I was planning on seeing Blood Diamond immideately after the movie.

I decided going home and mindlessly surfing the internet was about all I had left in me.

**** (out of 4 *)