Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker), the President of Uganda from 1971 until 1979, admired all things Scottish. One of the titles he bestowed on himself after assuming office was the King of Scotland. As much as he loved Scotland, he despised England. Amin served in the Scottish military, and four of his sons had Scottish names.

This film, adapted from the novel by Giles Foden (who is one of the screenwriters as well), is touted as being "inspired by real events and people." There’s a lot of creative license borrowed here. The other two co-writers are Peter Morgan ("The Queen") and Jeremy Brock ("Mrs. Brown"). Kevin Macdonald, the award winning director of the documentaries "Touching the Void," and 1999’s "One Day in September," takes the helm for his first dramatic feature.

The story is seen through the eyes of a young Scottish doctor, who becomes a confidant of Amin and witness to a gruesome history. It begins in 1970 Scotland, where Nicholas Garrigan (McAvoy) has just finished medical school. He takes a post in Uganda to get away from his doctor father and his doting mother. The character Garrigan does not appear in the book but there was a Scottish businessman in Amin’s inner circle. The composite created for the film is much younger, brasher and certainly sexier than his counterpart in the text. He is naïve and caught up in the romanticism of Africa. He seduces a lovely, young African woman on his bus ride to the remote outpost. And once he arrives, Garrigan is captivated by the older doctor’s wife, Sarah (Gillian Anderson), and begins an affair with her.

Idi Amin has just come into power and he draws crowds in the poor villages as he gives speeches, promising freedom and improved conditions. Garrigan is enthralled by Amin’s charisma and the excitement of the rally. Sarah tries to warn him of Amin’s duplicity.

Amin’s hand is hurt in a road accident just outside the village and Garrigan takes care of the injury quickly and handles the situation that caused the problem quite decisively. Amin immediately likes Garrigan, especially when he discovers that he is Scottish. He asks Garrigan to come to work for him at the new hospital in Kampala. Garrigan declines the offer.

But once Garrigan is in Kampala on other business, he is lured into accepting the position by Amin’s extravagant gifts of an apartment, a Mercedes convertible and women. He becomes Amin’s personal physician and confidante; in Amin’s words, "my closest advisor."

The major flaw in the film is Garrigan’s fictitious and absurd romance with one of Amin’s wives, Kay, played by the beautiful Kerry Washington. Garrigan knew of the atrocities carried out by Amin for lesser offenses. The results were horrific for Kay and led to Garrigan’s devastating departure from Uganda.

"The Last King of Scotland" was filmed in Uganda, with the participation of the country’s President and its citizens. It is acknowledged that Idi Amin was a despot that facilitated a bloodbath in Uganda. An estimated 300,000 people were killed during his reign. He died in exile in Saudi, Arabia on August 16, 2003.

Forest Whitaker captures the maniacal nature of Amin, allowing us a terrifying look at his erratic temperament. Whitaker’s portrayal is generating Oscar buzz.