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Show ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT Friday, February 2,2007 Page 4 Forest Whitaker wins The star of 'The Last King of Scotland' deserves every award he will inevitably claim Friday, Feb. 2 Theater "Alda" Aaron Allen $9 to $16 Tiie Daily Utah Chronicle Ugandan dictator Idi Amin promised his countrymen safety, free elections and economic prosperity, but instead gave them murder and corruption. Absorbed by paranoid, powerhungry fantasies, Amin had his regime slaughter anyone who doubted his leadership or even hinted at doubting his leadership. This included violence against specific ethnic groups, with a body count rising upward of 500,000, according to Amnesty International. The fact that Amin could also be absolutely charming—he sure charmed the pants off the British, a nation he served under in the King's African Rifles—only makes him more disturbing, more of a hideous enigma. Kevin MacDonald's "The Last King of Scotland" sees Amin through the eyes of one of those he charmed—a young Scottish doctor named Nicholas whom he recruits to be his personal physician and, eventually, his most trusted adviser. It's a troublesome approach. On the one hand, by putting us in Nicholas' shoes, we share in his feelings of betrayal and fright when he discovers the vicious dictator lurking beneath Amin's smiling, fun-loving demeanor. On the other hand, Nicholas (played by James McAvoy) isn't so much a three-dimensional character as he is the personification of a country's feelings for Amin—first starry-eyed and swept away, and then horrified when the rug is pulled out from under them as the bodies start to surface. There's little of interest in Nicholas' character, or perhaps he's just upstaged by the fantastic Forest Whitaker, who commands the screen with fierce, trembling en- ARTS 7:30 p.m. Rogers Memorial Theatre (292 E. Pages Lane. Centerville) "Sideways Stories from Wayside School" $5 to $13 7 p.m. Kingsbury Hall Concerts Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" $12 to $48 8 p.m. Abravanel Hall (123 W. South Temple) Suburban Legends $10 7 p.m. "Oh, that was a funny joke. I like jokes. Because I'm jolly. Jolly, jolly, jolly." Forest Whitaker chortles in "The Last King of Scotland." at those he ergy as Amin. thinks plan to "The Last King of Scotland" When we first deceive him. see him conFox Searchlight Pictures fidently lopHe deserves Directed by Kevin MacDonald ing up to the every one of Written by Peter Morgan microphone the awardsand Jeremy Brock for some season raves Based on the novel by Giles Foden rabbleroushe's been reStarring: Forest Whitaker ing, it's easy ceiving—and James McAvoy, Kerry Washington, to see how if he doesn't Gillian Anderson and Simon McBurney Nicholas and win the Best Rated R/120 minutes a great deal of Actor Oscar, Opens Feb. 2.2007 the Ugandan all the Acad• •• people were emy members fooled. should have Whitaker is bewitching one mo- their ears flicked. ment, hobnobbing with the British But back to Nicholas. While and putting on the airs of a leader McAvoy does a fine acting job, who has an inspiring vision, and the script (by Jeremy Brock and then dangerously half-cocked the "The Queen" scribe Peter Mornext, looking over his shoulder gan) saddles him with a malnour- ished sub-plot in which he has a fling with one of Amin's wives. Amin's wrath is a terrifying (and grotesque) display of the crazy lengths he's willing to go to assert his dominance and quell his anxieties, but it also feels dramatically under-whelming because of its contrivance. Nicholas is a wholly fictional character inhabiting the world of a real-Life monster, and that artificiality numbs the movie's impact. However, there's no denying the impact of Whitaker's performance. He exhibits all the complexities of Idi Amin without turning him into a simple monster. Now that's worth Oscar gold. a.allen@ chronicle.utah.edu Movies Opening on 2/2/07 Project Audio Lounge (2600 S. 500 West Colonial Square, Bountiful) Lynette, Ian Bell (of Sea Mine) $7 7:30 p.m. Kilby Court (741 S. Ktlby Court) Saturday, Feb. 3 Theater "Alda" .$9 to $16 7:30 p.m. Rogers Memorial Theatre (292 E. Pages Lane, Centerville) "Sideways Stories from Wayside School" $5 to $13 7 p.m. "Because I Said So" Directed by Michael Lehmann It's either a romantic comedy in which an overbearing mom (Diane Keaton) urges her daughter (Mandy Moore) to settle down with a nice man, or it's what women across the country will say to their boyfriends when their boyfriends whine about being forced to see this movie. Stand your ground, men. (PG-13) "Pan's Labyrinth" Directed by Guillermo del Tow An imaginative little girl faces monsters real and fantastical in World War II-era fascist Spain. "Pan's Labyrinth" is slightly less an aging actor who finds himself curiously attracted to his friend's great-niece. WiU this finally be OToole's year to bring home Oscar gold? Directed by the Pang Brothers Dark stains on the walls once More importantly, if he wins, will again foretell the coming of angry the first words of his acceptance spooks in this Sam Raimi-pro-- speech be an apology for his involvement in "King Ralph?" (R) duced horror flick. I know just the trick to remove those unsightly stains—a sponge, a bucket of holy water and a lot of "Groundhog Day" elbow grease. The sound of painful, ghoulish shrieking lets you Directed by Harold Rarnis know it's working. (PG-13) Perhaps more fun than watching this classic Bill Murray comedy is watch"Venus" ing Harold Rarnis get fatter and fatter in Directed by Roger Michell Peter O'Toole recently received each film, his'eighth Oscar'nomination for He's pretty fat in this one. (PGhis role in this movie. He plays scary than David Bowie's "Laby- . "Shakespeare in Love." (R) rinth," in which Jennifer Connolly was menaced by the pop star's "The Messengers" bulging genitals. (R) "The Last King of Scotland" Directed by Kevin MacDonald Forest Whitaker is equally charming and loose-cannon vicious as bloodthirsty Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in this "inspired by true events" thriller. His win at this year's Academy Awards is such a sure thing, the Academy is thinking of renaming the Best Actor category, "Best Performance by an Actor Named Forest Whitaker in 'The Last King of Scotland.'" In the biggest upset in Oscar history, he will lose to Kingsbury Hall "The Vagina Monologues" $ 10 general admission $ 20 reserved seating 7:30 p.m. Eccles Center (1750 Kearns Blvd. Park City) Concerts Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" $12 to $48 8 p.m. Abravanel Hall (123 W. South Temple) Memoir of a positoid Shawn Decker's My Pet Virus merely satisfies expectations Christopher Wallace writer with Foundation and Shawn Decker an unusual sympathetic seMy Pet Virus: life story. curity guards, The True Story of a Rebel Of the more prominent Rather than Decker met his Without a Cure memoirs published in the past reading like favorite band, Penguin Publishing few decades by young aspiring the screenDepeche Mode, $9.95, paperback writers—Prozac Nation and play of Tom at age 14, and Girl, Interrupted, for example, Hanks' "Philbefore that, at and, um, A Million Little Piec- adelphia," Decker's memoir age 12, his favorite pro wreses—many contain hyper-real, about living with AIDS, titled, tler, Ric Flair. gut-wrenching accounts of My Pet Virus: The True Story Instead of dying before the horrible things that some of a Rebel Without a Cure, is graduating from high school as people go through. written in a way that almost doctors had predicted, Decker The more sensitive readers makes you wish that you had continued living the life of a may find themselves curled up grown up HIV positive, too. normal "positoid"—his term and sobbing on the bathroom For Decker, there is no such for someone with AIDS—in floor after only a few chapters, thing as a serious illness. He rural Virginia. He began writseemingly auditioning for the was born a hemophiliac and, ing about living with the virus part of the author in the soon- thanks to tainted blood trans- in 1996, starting his own Web to-be-released feature film. fusions, he contracted hepa- site, www.mypetvirus.com, a Other writers, such as Da- titis B and C and HIV before phrase he lifted from Kurt Covid Sedaris and Augustin Bur- age 11. Since then, the HIV vi- bain lyrics. roughs, write about the terri- rus has been a tag-a-long comDecker met other positoids ble things they've experienced' panion, an obstacle, and most online, formed friendships in terribly funny ways. Enter importantly, a backstage pass. and started writing for POZ Shawn Decker, another young Thanks to the Make-A-Wish magazine, attracting attenThe Daily Utah Chronicle tion and gaining notoriety as a fresh, droll voice in the AIDS community. Eventually, he began travelling the country, educating people about living with HIV. My Pet Virus: The True Story of a Rebel Without a Cure is his first book. Overall, the writing is glib and Decker's sense of humor manifests itself on almost every page—a mixture of wry puns and observations—but it lacks vitality and runs a bit thin as the narrative nears the end, satiating the reader rather than instilling a craving for more. My Pet Virus is an interesting story told by a mediocre storyteller. What it lacks in brilliance, however, it makes up in accessibility and relevance. c.wallace@ chronicle.utah.edu SHAWN DECKER |
