Grade: A+
Director: Tom Hooper (The Damned United)
Writer: David Seidler (The King and I)
Starring: Colin Firth as King George VI/Bertie, Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth, Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue and Guy Pearce as King Edward VIII/David
In 2009, a little film called Slumdog Millionaire won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was the feel-good movie of the decade, an underdog story like no other, a love story, all at the same time. It earned 8 Oscars overall, Best Director for Danny Boyle and Best Adapted Screenplay for Simon Beaufoy among others.
This year’s Slumdog Millionaire is Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech. It’s a feel-good movie that will keep you engaged even though, in the end, it’s predictable. Unlike Slumdog, this is based on a true story. Yet Hooper directs it in a way that, even though you know what’s going to happen, you still are on edge at the end, the drama gripping you.
The King’s Speech opens at the 1925 Empire Exhibition at Wembley Stadium with Albert, the Duke of York (Firth), giving a speech. Well, stammering through it. His wife Elizabeth (Carter) looks on with concern. She looks for a new speech therapist because several have not panned out well. She finds Lionel Logue (Rush), an Australian commoner with some very uncommon methods. At the same time, Albert’s father, King George V (Michael Gambon), is failing in health as radio is becoming more and more popular. He warns Albert that he will have to speak a lot more because of this. But Albert is not next in line; his older brother David (Pearce) is. But David, soon after becoming King Edward VIII, is instead in love and about to marry to two-time divorcee Wallis Simpson (Eve Best). Since a divorced woman is not allowed to be part of the court, “Bertie,” as he is known to his family, may have to take over the throne. The lessons with Logue continue with contention between the two growing daily.
Like Slumdog, the acting in The King’s Speech is its main highlight. Firth commands the screen with a stammer, somehow. It amazes me that I was able to continue to engage with the character despite his speech defect. Part of the credit for that goes to director Tom Hooper (I’ll expound on that later), but most goes to Colin Firth. I recently saw his excellent performance in last year’s A Single Man, which should have gotten more respect from the Academy. He surpassed them this time, giving what will most likely earn him an Oscar statuette. His therapy scenes with Geoffrey Rush were my favorites because of the interaction between the two. Rush gives a goofy performance not unlike that of James Franco in 127 Hours, bucking what one might traditionally do in a role like that, putting on a different face and doing so wonderfully. Helena Bonham Carter, my least favorite part of her husband Tim Burton’s successful yet awful Alice in Wonderland earlier this year and one of my least favorite actresses ever, redeems herself with a supporting role filled with supporting Firth’s character as a loving wife. It was a completely different type of role that you expect in a monarch’s wife: loving, caring, passionate and concerned. Quite beautiful. The excellent supporting cast added to the charm. Guy Pearce was barely recognizable but solid. Michael Gambon, known as the newer Dumbledore in the Harry Potter film series, Timothy Spall and Derek Jacobi all were proper for their roles.
Like Slumdog, the direction and screenplay were both top-notch. Hopefully Tom Hooper and David Seidler will both corral an Oscar nomination for the way they crafted this true story. One thing the Hollywood Foreign Press Association got it right in nominating both of these guys. The scenes I mentioned with Rush and Firth doing therapy were well-shot and written; attribute that to these guys. They did the leg work that I so appreciate as a potential aspiring filmmaker myself.
So where does The King’s Speech rate among my films of the year? I will be posting more blogs soon describing my best of 2010. Let’s just say this much: expect this film to have a few nominations.
With a story this well-done and inspiring, why not?
