74
Metascore
36 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinThe film is phenomenally well directed by Kevin Macdonald and edited by Justine Wright to bring out every bit of scary volatility in the most casual interactions.
- 90NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenForest Whitaker, uncorking the power that he usually holds in check, gives a chilling, bravura performance as Ugandan tyrant Idi Amin, whose bloody regime slaughtered more than 300,000 people. This intelligent, sometimes gruesome thriller is based on a novel by Giles Foden.
- 80Los Angeles TimesCarina ChocanoLos Angeles TimesCarina ChocanoCaptures the energy and exuberance of a young nation in the throes of optimism and works it into a foreboding frenzy.
- 75PremiereGlenn KennyPremiereGlenn KennyWhitaker's Amin is the kind of raging lunatic that only an actor who has made a specialty of quiet caginess could pull off so convincingly. It's great, and scary, to see Whitaker turn it up to 11 for once.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliDirector Kevin Macdonald has fashioned a film that is at times nearly as harrowing as his previous endeavor, "Touching the Void."
- 70The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterAn imaginative and original picture turns conventional as it ends.
- 70VarietyTodd McCarthyVarietyTodd McCarthyIn the end, The Last King of Scotland is much better when it plays it cool and amusing than when it tries to ramp up outrage and indignation.
- 70The New YorkerDavid DenbyThe New YorkerDavid DenbyWhitaker, in the performance of a lifetime, makes him (Idi Amin) a charismatic madman.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceAn adequate thriller redeemed by Forest Whitaker's sensational turn as Idi Amin.
- 70The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisFuriously paced, with excellent performances by Forest Whitaker as Amin and James McAvoy as the foolish Scotsman who becomes the leader's personal physician, the film has texture, if not depth and enough intelligence to almost persuade you that it actually has something of note to say.