Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush
Directed by Tom Hooper
Rating: 5 stars
Before you come to know him as King George VI (Colin Firth), the movie starts off before he became king. George (or "Bertie" as those closest called him) grew up with a speech impediment. This was something his parents tried to correct while he was growing up. However, it was to no succession. Even as an adult, his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), looked for speech therapists to help him overcome his stammer. Frustratingly, Bertie had had enough and was done with the fruitless attempts. Yet Elizabeth looked for one more doctor and came across Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Lionel's unusual methods was able to make Bertie's life a little bit easier, though he was never cured of his stammering. Lionel was an important asset, and friend, to Bertie in life; especially when his brother abdicated the throne and Bertie is thrust into a life he never wanted.
The Kings Speech clearly deserved five stars. Usually when you hear that there is a movie based on a king, queen, or president, you don't tend to jump up in excitement and say "I want to see that!" But with the Kings Speech, it's different. First of all, Colin Firth is playing the lead. That should be reason enough. Of course, that's not all. The Kings Speech brings humor into it and you find yourself chuckling in your seat throughout various scenes. (Especially the scene where George is introduced to Lionel's wife and he says, "It's nice to meet you again." Colin Firth and the wife, Jennifer Ehle, were Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in the BBC version of Pride & Prejudice.) Also, Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush make a great on-screen friendship. It's fun to watch them together; especially seeing the unusual methods Lionel uses.
What I liked about this movie is that it's not boring. It not only keeps you entertained and makes you more knowledgeable about Britain's King George VI, it brings awareness about stuttering. I'm sure a lot of people who have this problem could relate to what King George VI went through and yet it also brings a message of hope. Even though the Kings Speech is rated R, it's for language. There's no nude scenes or drug usage. It's not like you're hearing curse words fly out at you every few minutes either. It's just here and there, not something you would really consider not seeing this movie for. This movie, however, is not for everyone. It's more like an acquired taste. I could never see my sister, for example, sitting through this movie and saying it was great. Not in a million years. Therefore, I would recommend watching the trailer for this movie on youtube before deciding whether you're interested or not.
This was the best movie of 2010 in my opinion. I absolutely loved it. I was checking out communicative disorders as a major last semester so I went in with a lot of knowledge about stuttering and the movie was pretty dead on with what I learned. The scene where Bertie and Lionel were reminiscing over drinks and building the model airplane broke my heart. It was just so beautiful. I've seen this movie three times and I am definitely going to purchase it when it is released on blu-ray.
ReplyDeleteAs for the "language", that is a sorry reason to not see this movie. There are only a handful of times when people that stutter can express themselves with verbal fluidity; when they sing, when they cannot hear themselves speak (for example, when Lionel put the headphones on Bertie), and when they curse (hence the two, possibly three, scenes with a short chain of expletives).
Maybe I am just weird but when I saw the trailer for this last fall I was ridiculously excited. I love period pieces.
Please continue writing about movies!