The King’s Speech
Starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush
Genre: Drama/biopic
Rating: R for some language.
Here’s an excellent picture that delivers to us a dramatized look into the accession to the British throne of Albert Frederick Arthur George, or simply Bertie (Firth), Duke of York, who would become King George VI, shortly before the outbreak of World War II. Unfortunately, he had developed, sometime in his past, a stammer which makes speech extremely difficult. His wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) by his side, Bertie attends the private practice of a Lionel Logue (Rush), who, after a bumpy start, starts to help the Duke regain confidence in his speaking abilities as well as attain new levels of aptitude.
As news from the European continent grows grim, the royal family must assert itself to face the threat posed by Hitler and his Nazis’ refusal to vacate Poland…
This was a really good movie that pulled four of the 12 Oscars for which it was nominated: best picture, best lead actor, best director and best screenplay. For the most part, I’d say they were deserved. The acting is really good; Firth pulls off the frustration and anger one would expect of a stammerer who wishes to speak right in a time and place that demands it; and though Rush (in whom I strangely kept seeing Captain Barbossa of Pirates of the Caribbean) didn’t win his Oscar for which he was nominated, he held his own as the patient yet demanding speech therapist who led the future king to greatness.
Sometimes a biopic will strike my fancy and I’ll like it; this time was one of them. I give this one five out of five; go out and rent it!