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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2007)
!24 #).%-!3 ,HZ[[O O[[W!IPQV\JPULTHZJVT :]o^kmbl^hghnk;B@L<K>>GBm l_ngZg]^__^\mbo^ 'PSUIFXFFLPG'SJEBZ 'FCSVBSZOE 6HH7KH2VFDUVDW7KH%LMRX QN %/2: 1SPDFFETHPUP4IFMUFS$BSFJOBEWBODFEBZPGTIPX /PIPTUCFFSBOE8JOF%SFTTVQBOEKPJOUIFGVO "DBEFNZ"XBSE/PNJOBUJPO 1FOFMPQF$SV[#FTU"DUSFTT 1LJKWO\ 6XQ0DW 5 QH[W3$1·6/$%<5,17+ BY MOLLY TEMPLETON CINEMARK - SPRINGFIELD Gateway Mall - Beltline @ Gateway 746-5202 - 2/2-2/8 Digital Sound in ALL Auditoriums Adult $7.25 • Adult Fri & Sat $7.75 Child/Bargain/Senior $5.25 • Student with ID $5.75 Early Bird Price is Back!!! Mon thru Fri – First Matinee Showing of each Feature $4.75 THE MESSENGERS PG13 FREEDOM WRITERS 12:20, 2:50, 5:20, 7:55, 10:25 PG13 7:00, 10:00 BECAUSE I SAID SO STOMP THE YARD PG13 PG13 1:00, 3:55, 7:10, 9:50 12:40, 3:40, 7:45, 10:30 THE QUEEN PG13 ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES PG 12:15, 2:55, 5:25, 8:00, 10:35 1:05, 7:20 SMOKIN’ ACES R 1:35, 4:20, 7:35, 10:20 CHILDREN OF MEN R DEPARTED R 2:20, 5:05, 7:50, 10:35 NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM PG 12:00, 3:30, 6:50, 10:30 CATCH AND RELEASE PG13 12:50, 3:35, 7:00, 9:55 NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM DIGITAL PG 1:10, 4:00, 7:25, 10:10 BLOOD AND CHOCO- LATE PG13 'JOBM8FFL 1LJKWO\ 6DW 6XQ0DW $FDGHP\$ZDUG1RPLQDWLRQV 7 +( 4 8((1 1:50, 4:35, 7:30, 10:15 PURSUIT OF HAPPY- NESS PG13 12:05, 2:40, 5:15, 7:45, 10:25 3* 3* 1LJKWO\ 'JOBM8FFL QH[W127(621$6&$1'$/ LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA R 1:20, 4:15, 7:40, 10:40 12:35, 3:50, 7:05, 10:20 ERAGON PG THE HITCHER R 3:45, 9:55 12:45, 3:20, 5:45, 8:10, 10:45 HAPPY FEET PG DREAMGIRLS PG13 12:55, 4:05 12:10, 3:15, 7:05, 10:10 %,-28/$7(1,7( RQO\ LQFOXGHV)5((SRSFRUQ -DPHV%URZQ SP IULVDW VXQ 6DW0DW *ONFNPSZPGUIF,JOHPG'VOL YLQWDJHXQUHOHDVHG FRQFHUWV%RVWRQZ0DFHR3DUNHU 3DULVZ%RRWVLH&ROOLQV 'RQ WPLVVWKLVUDUHRSSRUWXQLW\WRVHHWKLVUDUH-% *NO PASSES/NO SUPERSAVERS MOVIES 12 - SPRINGFIELD Gateway Mall - Beltline @ Gateway 741-1231 • 2/2-2/8 No children under age 6 will be admitted to any R-rated feature after 6:00 PM Friday & Saturday after 6pm $2.00 UNACCOMPANIED MINORS PG DÉJÀ VU PG13 [11:15] 2:20, 4:55, 7:15, 9:35 FLUSHED AWAY PG THE HOLIDAY PG13 [11:25, 12:00] 2:10, 2:50, 4:20, 5:00, 6:50, 9:25 [11:45] 2:45, 7:05, 10:10 STRANGER THAN FICTION PG13 ALPHA DOG R [12:10] 3:05, 7:40, 10:30 THE GOOD SHEPHERD R [11:35] 2:15, 4:50, 7:35, 10:20 [11:30] 3:00, 6:30, 10:00 OPEN SEASON PG [11:20] 2:00, 4:25, 7:00, 9:20 THE FOUNTAIN PG13 [12:05] 2:25, 4:45, 7:25, 9:55 BORAT R [11:40] 2:05, 4:35, 7:20, 10:05 FLAGS OF OUR THE PRESTIGE PG13 FATHERS R 7:30, 10:25 [11:50] 3:10, 7:10, 10:15 STEREO SURROUND SOUND IN ALL AUDITORIUMS 4-DAY ADVANCE TICKET SALES - NO PASSES -NO SUPERSAVERS SHOWTIMES AVAILABLE AT CINEMARK.COM BECAUSE I SAID SO (PG-13) DIG (1155 230 455) 725 955 SMOKIN ACES (R) - ID REQ'D DIG (1150 255) 700 945 EPIC MOVIE (PG-13) DIG (1140 225 505) 720 950 DEPARTED (R) - ID REQ'D DIG (1145 440) 805 BABEL (R) - ID REQ'D DIG (1215 430) 800 CHILDREN OF MEN (R) - ID REQ'D DIG (1135 220 500) 730 1000 DREAMGIRLS (PG-13) DIG (1200 300) 655 950 THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND (R) - ID REQ'D DIG (1205 305) 650 935 Call Theatre for Showtimes &DQGOHV +HDUW6WRQHV %RG\&DUH 2LOV 3UHWW\6LOYHU-HZHOU\ &DUGV,QFHQVH 6WDWXHV 0RUH Adv. Tix on Sale BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA (PG) ★ SMOKIN ACES (R) - ID REQ'D DIG Fri. (220 450) 720 950 Sat. & Sun. (1150 220 450) 720 950 NOTES ON A SCANDAL (R) - ID REQ'D DIG Fri. (250 510) 730 1000 Sat. & Sun. (1230 250 510) 730 1000 58%<&+$60 :WK#&KDUQHOWRQ (XJHQH 06D6XQ ZZZUXE\FKDVPFRP 20 FEBRUARY 1, 2007 DEPARTED (R) - ID REQ'D DIG Fri. (430) 800 Sat. & Sun. (100 430) 800 BLOOD DIAMOND (R) - ID REQ'D DIG Fri. (350) 650 940 Sat. & Sun. (1240 350) 650 940 Times For 2/2 - 2/4 James McAvoy and Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland [11:55] 2:55, 6:55, 9:50 ©2007 A Good Doctor Getting too close to tyranny THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND: Directed by Kevin Macdonald. Written by Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock. Based on the novel by Giles Foden. Music, Alex Heffes. Starring Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington, Simon McBurney and Gillian Anderson. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2006. 121 minutes. R. 44411 M any filmgoers don’t take the whims of Oscar voters seriously — a reasonable notion, doubly so in a year that voters barely recognized such a stellar mainstream film as Children of Men. But to some of us, the annual pomp and circumstance that marks the end of the cinematic year is irresistible. So it’s easy to look a little cynically at The Last King of Scotland, a September release that has only now arrived in Eugene, trailing awards and acclaim for its star, Forest Whitaker. The movie itself, though well-received, is not a contender, which begs an obvious question: Why not? Sometimes, as with Judi Dench’s nomi- nation for Mrs. Brown (1997) or Michael Caine’s for The Quiet American (2002), act- ing-only awards recognition is a sign of a well-made, intimate film overwhelmed, in other categories, by flashier competition. But sometimes this sort of imbalance is the sign of a great performance packed into an ordinary film. Such is the case with The Last King of Scotland, a blend of fact and fiction that centers around Whitaker’s grand, evocative, frightening performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Though Amin really was fascinated with Scotland, Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) is a fictional character, re- portedly based on a former British soldier who did become an adviser to Amin. Garrigan, full of brash naïvete and casual sexuality, traipses off to Uganda to make himself useful in a village hospital. He’s shortly called upon to tend to Amin, who likes the doc’s straightforward nature. Amin hires Garrigan first as his personal physician and later, as he reminds Nicholas repeatedly, as a general adviser to the mercurial leader. Scotland’s strength is in its first half, as Garrigan is pleasantly overwhelmed by one thing after another: the newness of Uganda, an attraction to a married woman (Gillian Anderson, in a beautifully written and acted supporting part), the attention of charismatic Amin, a new job, a new home, endless pool parties, a flashy car. Amin, who seems larger than life from his first scene, looms over everything, and Whitaker is especially as- tonishing in early scenes, establishing the complex allure of Amin as a combination of power, paranoia and peculiar, sometimes puckish charm. Whitaker’s performance, impressive and multifaceted as it is, cannot carry the film through to its dramatic close, set against the 1975 Entebbe Airport hostage situation. Nor can the film’s beautifully created ’70s look (marred at times by inelegant editing) or the under-appreciated McAvoy, who plays Garrigan both wide-eyed and sly, a man so idealistic he clings to his illusions of safety, his sense of how the world ought to be, al- most beyond reason. When he finally does begin to realize what Amin is capable of — what he does offscreen, unseen until late in the film by Garrigan and the audience — Scotland devolves into an uninspired thriller. The only question is how Garrigan will escape — and how many misguided de- cisions he will make on his way out. There is little to take away from Scotland, which in the end feels somewhat hollow as it neglects to connect the plight of a self-involved for- eign doctor to the fates of the Ugandans who suffered and died under Amin’s rule. As an acting showcase, The Last King of Scotland fascinates; as a film, it nearly becomes as myopic as Garrigan. ew
