Forest Whitaker seems like an Oscar shoe-in for his portrayal of that genocidal nut-job Idi Amin. Whitaker's always been a fine actor, even if he hasn't always been rewarded with the kind of roles that would earn him the acclaim The Last King of Scotland has. But there have been times when he's really showed off his chops. Should you want to have a weekend Whitakerthon, and there are lots of worse ways to spend a weekend, this would be our programming: Clint Eastwood's Bird (1988) in which Whitaker plays the title role. Robin Williams sucked up all the oxygen in Good Morning Vietnam (1987) but Whitaker's great in this. There's his role as Jody in The Crying Game (1992), his work in the 1995 movie Smoke, written by Paul Auster and directed by Wayne Wang, and a lead role in the 2005 thriller A Little Trip to Heaven, which will get its DVD release on March 13th.
written on Monday Feb 5, 2007
actor,
dictator,
winner.
