The King's Speech

This film pulls a lot on the heartstrings on many of us who have felt powerless to be heard in our formative years, which turns out to be just as true for George, who would one day become King of England on the verge of WWII.

Colin Firth delivers a solid performance as George, the stammering English Duke of York in the 1930s, afflicted with a speech impediment, always in the shadow of his older brother Edward (Guy Pearce), heir to the throne .  Firth was very believable as George with his agitated, halted speech pattern (how does one write a screenplay for a character who stammers for most of the film without going a little cuckoo or perhaps inventing a stammering font for the actor reading for the role?).  While not the warmest of humans, who would be after being catered to while being raised in the royal family, his heart appears to be in the right place. 

George's wife (Helen Bonham Carter), recognizing the need for George to be a better public speaker, sets up a meeting with Lionel (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian speech therapist, and while it's not the best of first sessions, they would find themselves intertwined when events of the abdicaton of the throne by Edward, and the burgeoning of WWII pushes George into the largest of spotlights in England. 

Geoffrey Rush is very charming as Lionel, and will easily muster a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, with Christian Bale being his main competitor, I suspect, in that race.  Firth is also a shoo-in for a Best Actor nomination. The crux of the film resides squarely on the give-and-take between George and Lionel, and Firth and Rush play off one another quite well, with engaging performances which are entertaining to watch.

In an age where we are becoming frequent texters, and losing, gradually, the proficiency of the simple act of carrying on a conversation in person with others, this film reminds of the importance of speech that can rally a country, and our own voices demand to be heard in spite of impediments along the way.

The only thing that bugged me about the film was the framing of the "talking head" shots, the director felt it was more important to continually use the 1/3 framing motif, so that the heads were located to the side of the frame on many of the shots.  Done a few times is fine, but for most of the running time, it got old, fast.  Other than that, it's a briskly paced film with enough humor to keep things from falling into a morose tone.

I give it 3.5 stars, or a grade of B+.