“The Last King of Scotland”
*** 1/2 A fictional device gives us a paradoxically insightful look at Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. James McAvoy plays fictional doctor Nicholas Garrigan, leaving Scotland for adventure and good deeds in the African bush. A chance encounter with the new, charismatic president-for-life Amin (Forest Whitaker) makes Garrigan the palace doctor, and he sees power and corruption from the inside. Whitaker gives a remarkable and Oscar-worthy performance as the mercurial Amin. The movie suffers from too much white man’s perspective, yet is engaging and well-made.|R| 125 minutes|Will be released Tuesday|Michael Booth
“Notes on a Scandal”
**** A nasty little British drama that hits all the right sour notes, based on Zoe Heller’s novel about a public school teacher (Cate Blanchett) who starts a sexual relationship with one of her young students. An aging “battle ax” of a teacher, played by the terrifying Judi Dench, seems to want to help, and lets Blanchett confide in her, but Dench has, you might say, issues of her own. Who covets whom and who is covering up the worst secrets builds into a riveting psycho-thriller, impeccably acted by Blanchett, Dench and Bill Nighy.|R| 100 minutes|Will be released Tuesday |Michael Booth
“The History Boys”
** 1/2 My own take is that it must have made a better play, but Anglophiles and fans of whip-smart British schoolboys trading epigrams will love every moment of “History Boys.” Eight friends at a midlevel British high school have a shot at Oxford-Cambridge scholarships, and the movie follows their efforts to cram, with an old master and a new one. Richard Griffiths is winning as the literature teacher who wants the boys to become well-rounded adults without pandering to admissions committees. Too many lines feel stagy and rehearsed, but there’s no denying the witty writing.|R| 104 minutes|Will be released Tuesday |Michael Booth
“Freedom Writers”
*** A rookie teacher from the right side of the tracks takes on a classroom of urban toughs. Haven’t we been in this homeroom before? Well, yes – and no. Doubters in the truth and power of the classroom inspirational take a lesson from director Richard LaGravenese’s adaptation of the story of California high school teacher Erin Gruwell and her Freedom Writers. Hilary Swank stars as the hopeful, dorky, inventive woman who taught and learned from her class of predominantly minority students at Long Beach’s Wilson High School. Like its teacher, “Freedom Writers” struts its trust in empathy and knowledge. Like its bristling students, the film is willing to shove us a bit.|PG-13| 123 minutes|Will be released Tuesday |Lisa Kennedy
