Saturday, March 19, 2011

The King's Speech

England's Prince Albert (Colin Firth), soon to become King George VI, is plagued by a speech impediment. With her husband soon to take over the throne, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) hires Lionel Logue, an Australian actor and speech therapist, to help Albert overcome his stammer. An extraordinary friendship develops between the pair as Logue uses unconventional means to teach Albert how to speak with confidence.

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for language.
With all of the awards this film has won, I was sure that it would be just as over-rated the previous few years' films have been. The King's Speech was one of the most riveting stories I have seen in cinema in a handful of years. I never quite imagined Colin Firth to be the "leading man" kind of actor but throughout watching this film I was proven to be wrong time and time again, while feeling like an idiot at times... I now believe that Firth would be ready to take on just about any role that comes his way after his impeccable portrayal of King George VI. Geoffrey Rush was outstanding as Lionel Logue, making me seriously consider him and Firth both playing equally important roles in the development of the film because of their on-screen chemistry, making it seem as if they have been fond of each other years prior to the making of this borderline masterpiece about two men: one, looking to find confidence in himself and the other, trying to maintain his confidence after a series of setbacks. 4 out of 4 stars.