The King's Speech - B+

In theaters. Rated PG, 118 minutes. Trailer.

The King's Speech is a typical quality English period piece. Smart characters, great acting, class issues and beautiful art direction; this is a Merchant-Ivory production if I ever saw one. Colin Firth stars as England's stammering King George VI (who reigned from 1936 to 1952 and is the father of reigning Queen Elizabeth II), a man struggling with a speech impediment and the weight of history. As his father (King George V) nears death and his older brother (and heir to the throne) Edward (Guy Pearce) exhibits erratic behavior, George begins seeing various speech therapists, without success. His wife (Helena Bonham Carter) finds an unconventional therapist named Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) and the king to be starts an unlikely journey. Click below for more on TKS:


Lionel's methods require equality between therapist and patient which George has a hard time accepting. After his ascension to the throne becomes clearer, he relents and gives in to Lionel's methods with some success. Their relationship grows as George slowly opens up about his upbringing and learns about the common man. George ends up on the throne after a few machinations with his brother and the film ends with a dramatic 1939 speech after the British Parliament declares war on Germany.


The film is smartly written with stylish and precise direction. There are many interesting discussions of class and manners as well as the impact of the new medium of radio (I particularly enjoyed George's father, King George V (Michael Gambon), as he describes how easy it is to be king). The art direction in the film is amazing. The foggy streets of London are a pleasure to look at, and I found the odd Jackson Pollock style unfinished walls of Lionel's office to be very pleasing and they struck such a contrast with the polished George.

I don't care for Colin Firth (odd, I know), but he is amazing in this film as he shows a panoply of emotions. George is at once humble, cocky, angry, sympathetic, snobby and funny. He has to be a student, a withering son, a bullied brother, a father, a husband and, finally, a king. Geoffrey Rush was good as Lionel, but I found his performance a
little too gimmicky and mannered (for some reason, when he says "yes you do" in the trailer it makes me hate the movie because that is such a "Blind Side" moment). Guy Pearce is his usual greatness as the inconsequential and selfish Edward (who was a Nazi sympathizer - see photo to right!). Michael Gambon is solid as King George V as does Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill. It is also nice to see Bonham Carter actually act in an adult role - in something other than a stupid Tim Burton movie.

This review reads like an A- review, but the film just didn't pack that kind of punch for me. The humor wasn't that great and the director didn't pull off the gravitas of the situation enough. I think he should have delved further into the castle intrigue and father/son issues, but the film never gets too dark or introspective.

A really good film. Worth your time.