The King's Speech - B

Lawyer's original review is here.

Let me first point out that I called BS on Tom Hooper's directing "style" years ago with my John Adams review. He's still choosing pointless angles that draw attention to themselves. And characters are still distractingly placed in far ends of the frame demonstrating the relentless motif that characters are at odds with each other. (For a more subtle and challenging shot selection showing characters at odds, see The Social Network when Sean Parker calls Mark Zuckerberg to tell him about the cocaine bust). And when Lionel Logue and King George VI are finally on the same page in the last scene, Hooper botches it since their faces don't overlap exactly in the frame . . .

Let me also point out that The King's Speech is literally a filmed stage play which, like Driving Miss Daisy, makes in inherently un-cinematic. And some of the best scenes were filmed in the same place as a gay porno, which makes its Art Direction Oscar nomination laughable. And let's also say, that Timothy Spall (as Winston Churchill) gives one of the worst performances ever in a Best Picture nominee. He alternates his grimaces and squints between very constipated and acid reflux.

But the film succeeds despite its director and unfocused screenplay (the middle third meanders like crazy) because of Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, who are terrific separately and together as the future king and his speech therapist. Rush's relaxed nature and Firth's elegance blend perfectly and their scenes are alive and well. So it's good they are the bulk of the movie. But other scenes including most with Helena Bonham Carter fall flat. And an opportune side plot with George's brother King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce) and why he abdicated the throne are glossed over unsatisfactorily. B

PS: The music by Alexandre Desplat is instantly forgettable, blending in with dozens of scores released each and every year. There is excellent use of both Beethoven's Concerto No. 5 and Symphony No. 7 - II. If Beethoven were to win the Oscar over Trent Reznor, I couldn't argue. But not Desplat. Although Hans Zimmer is a perfectly acceptable choice this year.