Very honest

Rating: 8/10 (4 March 2011)

For me, a parallel between The King's Speech and The Queen (2006) is very appropriate because while Stephen Frears' movie was pioneer exposing the royal family intimacy, Tom Hooper's film tries to follow - even indirectly - the same formula that made The Queen a success between critics and audience. Tom Hooper, along with screenwriter David Seidler - backed by the Weinstein brothers' experience in giving independent films necessary production to turn them into commercial successes - reached the same goal with The King's Speech. By this point of view, leaving aside the distinct themes of each one of the movies, I consider The King's Speech some kind of unofficial prequel of The Queen or, maybe, the male version of Stephen Frears' flick, but just for some similarities between both movies.
Anyway, the film is successful in all aspects, from Colin Firth's visceral performance to the effective direction that seamlessly gathered traditional and conservative elements of direction with modern features of independent movies. While Tom Hooper keeps the film linear and often common, the contrast happens when he intensifies through cinematic techniques what's happening with Firth's character, making the audience feel his anguish and inability to handle his problem, making it clear by these moments that the film isn't conservative as it seems and as the critics are saying it is.
Historically the movie has its merits too as most of the people didn't realize what in fact happened with the royal family in that troubled time and also how the King's problem was affecting the decisions of the monarchy and its reputation in a fragile moment when people and also other nations were heavily demanding politic responses, becoming an untenable situation.
David Seidler's screenplay does a wonderful job when subtly reveals that the King wasn't unprepared for the throne, but was a person contained by his meanness feeling, believing that being a stammer was an impotence condition and not a disease that nothing had to do with his capacities. The movie grows as the audience - and also the character - starts discovering those differences and that under that voice there's a strong man able to be a respectable monarch who defies himself for the sake of his beliefs.
A very honest movie. I do not consider it the best of 2010, but surely a part of the list.