Informative, entertaining, uplifting, memorable

Rating: 10/10 (18 January 2011)

Stars Colin Firth (as Bertie/King George VI), Helena Bonham Carter (as his wife), Geoffrey Rush (as Lionel Logue, his speech therapist), Guy Pearce (as his older brother, David/King Edward VIII/Duke of Windsor).
The narrative imagines the private and public lives of British royalty and behind the scenes British government in the 1920s-1940s era. Some events and situations are public knowledge: that King George V died, that he was briefly followed by his eldest son ('David,' Edward VIII) who then abdicated within a year to marry a divorced American commoner, Wallis Simpson, "the woman I love," who was then succeeded by his next younger brother, Bertie/George VI, who had long standing speech problems (stuttering/stammering). And that an Australian speech therapist, Lionel Logue, helped him largely overcome that to the extent the King was able to effectively address his empire through the trying times of WW II.
The movie takes some relatively minor (IMO) liberties with historical accuracy for the sake of spinning a more interesting story. It imagines and presumes much of the private lives and motivations of the royal family and presents them sympathetically. The growing wedge between Bertie (+ the rest of the royal family and government) and David uses little imagination and many known facts.
The success of Logue's speech therapy is very clear from pre- and post-treatment newsreels of that era. BUT that it was achieved by Logue being so provocatively teasing and taunting of Bertie seems to have been wholly invented in this movie to spice up and dramatize their therapy relationship; e.g., it's not in Logue's grandson's book about Logue and his relationship with the royal family (based on Logue's own notes!)--or any other reports about their relationship I've seen.
But, that aside, TKS is a great movie, weaving together history, crisis, family, the slow development of an effective therapeutic relationship and the growth it fostered. Many people describe the film as being very uplifting and I agree.
Surely it's a very strong candidate for best picture (& best actor & best supporting actor) in this year's Oscars as well as very deserving of a lasting place among IMDb's all-time best 250 films ever, even without a single chase, sex, or battle scene--or the spilling of blood!