Only loosely based on fact, this is a film about character, colonialism, the seduction of power. Oh, and the trap of being delusional. This Amin could have been the revolutionary reformer he believed himself to be, if not so self-deluded, paranoid, and such a product of violence himself.

Although there is a background of violence and terror, this is no masterpiece like Hotel Rwanda. Still, it is a powerful -- insightful about human nature. Not just about Amin, but the young idealistic Scottish doctor who, through a series of flukes, becomes Amin's "closest advisor" -- and can't see beyond the larger-than-life rhetoric and charm, until it is, perhaps, too late.