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The King's Speech, 2010

In amidst of much Oscar hype and talk many have already caught a screening of The King 's Speech. Unlike it's other contenders The King's Speech seem to be a little known movie that only hit it big when it won a Golden Globe and is now in serious contest for an Oscar or two. The lack of hype or lack of information about the film made me a little concern to watch it. Yes I knew that it had received numerous awards and recognition and that did have a bearing on my opinion but this of course did not guarantee that I was going to enjoy it. Luckily for me I did, but before I tell you the review I shall let you know what the general outline since some of you might not know about it.

Directed by Tom Hooper The King's Speech begins with Prince George or Bertie (Colin Firth) as he is about to address the nation but is struggling to articulate himself. Having problems with a speech impairment Bertie seeks help from a number of different doctors and physicians but nothing seem to be able to help him. Disheartened Bertie gives up but his wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) still wishes to see her husband succeed. After searching Elizabeth seeks out an unusual speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Logue's therapies are unusual and unconventional but Elizabeth is desperate to find a solution and therefore she asks the help of Mr. Logue. Bertie grudgingly adhere to the practices of Logue although refuses to talk about the possible psychological and family issues that could be the cause of his speech impairment. The movie not only follows Bertie's journey to recovery but also the events that took place that eventually leads to Bertie to become the King.

I understand why there is much talk about how good this film is and I have to say it I really like this movie. Although I haven't seen all the other movies that in the contention for best picture I'm not sure if I would give it to this one. Don't get me wrong The King's Speech was an amazing film and is definitely worth a nomination. But I'm not sure if it's worth the award. But hey that's not up to me.

The King's Speech is one of the those quiet little films that is simple and pleasant to watch and it was carried by the excellent performances. Much of the entertainment of this film was the characters and the script. Although it was a drama piece it was surprising funny this is of course credit to the screenwriter David Seidler. And of course the excellent character development and brilliant performance to match. Firth's depiction of King is honest and raw - a interesting insight to a person that should be an image of confidence but is not necessarily is.

Rush as the speech therapist was was excellent. An odd sort of character the unconventional therapist was extremely likable. But I guess the winning element of the film is the relationship between Logue and Bertie. A relationship that at first based on patient-therapist dynamics develops into a deep and caring friendship. And it does seem like at first that the friendship is carried by Logue despite this it truly feels that the two are equal in their interactions. Soon Logue is more like a close friend rather than just his therapist. It's actually interesting because until you think about I don't really notice their relationship develop so naturally and how much it has come. This I have to give credit to Hooper for being able to subtly show this natural progression.

I really liked this movie and even though I was concerned that I might not like it or that it might be so slow that I would find it boring but I was so wrong.
Rating: 8/10

Link to Trailer

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