My Rating:
With one of the more clever titles I've seen in a while, The King's Speech is about much more than some speech a King gave. When I first heard the title, I assured myself that it was going to be another sleeper (not the good kind), a historical drama about an English King making difficult, boring decisions in a desperate time of war. Since John Adams is the only Tom Hooper production I've encountered, I was not expecting to get much out of The King's Speech. Don't let the title fool you, it is a very clever play on words, being less about an actual speech, but more about how someone speaks (the witty title makes me think of Spellbound, probably the best titled documentary of all time).
The film opens with soon to be King George VI (Firth), the stammering son of King George V (Michael Gambon). Having trouble forming words when he's nervous, high tempered George VI and his high spirited wife, Queen Elizabeth (Bonham-Carter) enlist the services of the bold Australian speech therapist, “Doctor” Lionel Logue (Rush), to help him speak sans stammering (three times fast) and ultimately give a national radio speech at the beginning of WWII.
The acting in the film was phenomenal, as should be expected. Colin Firth pulled off a believable speech disorder, and made me genuinely believe how much it frustrated him. Geoffrey Rush easily won himself at least a nomination for best supporting actor for his often hilarious, yet convincingly serious performance of the character who knew that he could help the King. I'm personally glad he won't be remembered as Captain Barbossa for the rest of his career. An audacious Helena Bonham-Carter was joined by two of her Harry Potter co-stars, Michael Gambon and Timothy Spall, making me wonder when I'll see this combo again (the last time I can remember so many Harry Potter actors together was in In Bruges, where Ralph Finnes, Brendan Gleeson and Clémence Poésy all shared the screen). It was good to see that Bonham-Carter can actually act and not just play characters that are completely wacko.
The King's Speech won me over with some very well timed humor, a knock out cast and historical accuracy that can be compared to AMC's Mad Men. For the first time viewer, the film was completely engrossing to the point of being unaware of sitting in a theater, and how long you've been there. You won't care, once the film ends you'll realize that all good things come to an end. I'm not sure there is much replay value stored in the film, but I know I'll be watching it more than once this year. The film was the exact right length, any less and you'd be frustrated, wanting more. Any more and you might actually start seeing the lights of people checking their cell phones throughout the theater. The King's Speech was the first nearly flawless film of director Tom Hooper, who proved that he can make a relationship between a King and his mere subject a purely human experience.
Released: December 2010
Length: 1 hr 58 min
Directed by: Tom Hooper
Written by: David Seidler
Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham-Carter
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