Special Coverage 2008 Fall MoviesThe Must List2008 Fall TV2008 Emmy Awards2008 Fall Music

Dictator Idi Amin ruled Uganda by terror during the 1970s, but this adaptation of the 1998 novel looks at the man within the monster via a fictional relationship between Amin (Forest Whitaker) and a young Scottish doctor (James McAvoy). ''It's a thriller with a Faustian pact at the center,'' says director Kevin Macdonald, who blends his fictional narrative with real events. The director filmed mostly in Uganda, with the help of many citizens still conflicted about the late despot. ''I'd meet people who said, 'Amin was so funny! Remember when he did this? But, of course, he killed my father.'''


Posted Aug 10, 2006 | Order Article Reprints