Film: The King's Speech

GENRE: Drama/History
RATING: R for strong language
RUNTIME: 1hour and 58 minutes
STARRING: Colin Firth (A Single Man, Love Actually)
Geoffrey Rush (Shine, Pirates 1 & 3)
DIRECTOR: Tom Hooper (John Adams - miniseries)
WRITER: David Seidler (Tucker, Quest for Camelot)
PLOT: King George VI needs a speech therapist to help him get him over his stammer in order to deliver important radio addresses.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 I am not a big fan of Colin Firth. I never understood why women found him attractive. I’m still not sure. But man, can that guy act. He is phenomenal in this film. His stutter is played to perfection; not mockingly and not insufferable, just enough to evoke sympathy from his audience. I’m amazed at how much I was rooting for him throughout this film. I was thoroughly engrossed. He had me hanging on every stuttered syllable. He’s winning the Best Actor Oscar. Easily.
2 Geoffrey Rush also delivers an Oscar-worthy performance as Lionel Logue, the king’s speech therapist. His sessions with Firth’s King George VI are magical with their abundance of perseverance and fun repartee. Helena Bohnam Carter usually plays weird women (Bellatrix anyone?) but she is perfectly subtle in this film delivering many fine moments of support and empathy. Amazing supporting work by both actors. Probably Oscar bound as well.
3 Cinematographer Danny Cohen makes great use of shortside framing. This is a technique where the actor looks off the screen with the background behind them as opposed to the more common technique where the actor looks into the rest of the frame. This method creates discomfort because it seems a little out of place. This film is filled with discomfort which completely justifies the angle choice. He also shoots from below a lot which give a sense of importance and weight to the subject matter. What could have been plain was made much more interesting.
4 I enjoyed the different vocal techniques Lionel uses to help George get over his stammer. Some fun ideas led to a wonderful training montage that I wish was longer.
5 Timothy Spall may have done a fine Winston Churchill impression but he’ll always remind of Peter Pettigrew from Harry Potter. A bit distracting. Thankfully the role is not too big.

RECOMMENDATION: It’ll most likely win the Oscar, so see it.
UPCOMING REVIEWS: 127 Hours, Narnia