Movie Review: The King's Speech

The King's Speech tells the true story of King George VI's efforts to overcome his stammer.

George always had a stammer and as royalty was sometimes required to give public speeches which he . With the invention of radio, the people expected to hear their King's voice.

The director, Tom Hooper has mostly done British television work. He did direct all of HBO's John Adams and last years (well 2009's) The Damned United which I liked. The King's Speech is no exception to these in being a film about historical figures talking, mostly in old rooms and occasionally out in big spaces with crowds looking on. He keeps it interesting and lets the actors carry the film.

The two stars, Colin Firth as King George VI and Geoffrey Rush as his vocal instructor Lionel Logue, are both outstanding in making their characters become real. Firth has the showier role, having to pull off the stammer and the frustration in dealing with it. He'll certainly get an Oscar nomination for it and probably a win, since he probably deserved it last year over Jeff Bridges for his role in A Single Man. Rush's role also has a lot of difficult dialog and elocution to get right. He's got to say it correctly before Firth can get it wrong.

The rest of the cast was also quite good and I kept thinking it was a Harry Potter reunion (and a little bit of Doctor Who). I'm not very up on my British monarchy and the fact that everyone had multiple names didn't help (though it wasn't particularly confusing), so he's a summary.

The film starts in the late 1920s and ends in the late thirties. Michael Gambon is King George V and Claire Bloom is his wife Queen Mary. Their two eldest sons were Edward (who the family called David) and Albert (who the family called Bertie). When George V died in 1936, David became King Edward VIII (played by a barely recognizable Guy Pearce). A year later, he abdicated the throne to marry divorced American Wallis Simpson (Eve Best who I know from Nurse Jackie). David had no children so that made Albert, King George VI. His wife was Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) and they had two daughters Elizabeth and Margaret. Young Elizabeth is now the reigning Queen and Bonham Carter is playing the Queen Mother who died in 2002 at 101. Bertie and Elizabeth also used the alias Mr. and Mrs Johnson when they didn't want to be recognized in public.

I was half expecting this to play as a sports movie. There are some clear cliches. The underdog star who has to vanquish personal demons to realize his true potential and end the film with a great performance as crowds watch. The only one who truly understands the star is a coach who will only help if he can unconditionally use his unorthodox methods. But it's a bit more about the relationship of these men and the work involved rather than just the success. The 'joy of victory' in the final speech was tempered with its content of the seriousness of Britain's entry into World War II.

It's not a great film, but it's a very very good one with some great performances.