A fine lead performance makes this an unusual film choice for me

Rating: 9/10 (20 June 2011)

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
In 1930s England, King George the Fifth (Colin Firth) has succeeded to the throne upon the abdication of his brother, and the fate of the country now rests on his shoulders. However, a speech impediment renders him unable to perform his public duties to the fullest, and is the cause of much embarrassment. Defiantly proud, but mindful he needs to do something to improve his problem, 'Bertie' enlists the help of unconventional speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush.) The pair enjoy a difficult and frosty relationship to start with, but over time come to form an effective and unbreakable partnership that takes both men to places they never thought they would go, as war with Germany looms on the horizon and the public need a leader more than ever as the thirties close.
The monarchy, whatever your politics on it, undoubtedly provide this little island of ours with it's broad sense of history and tradition, and will stand us in the annals of time for quite a while. From this vast catalogue of stories to pick from, this little number pulls out the last individual to sit on the throne before the current one, and highlights the little touched on fact of his struggles to communicate, in private and in public. Such an idea might seem like a curious one for a film idea, but it's brought to life quite well by Tom Hooper, which is as fine an indicator of talent as you could hope.
To be honest, this generally isn't the kind of film I would choose to watch of my own accord, but lead star Firth's performance had received so much acclaim and looked like it had the potential to be so great, that I decided to give it a go. And Firth does not disappoint, delivering what must surely be one of the defining performances of his career, bringing the king to life with all his ticks and mannerisms just perfectly, and just generally managing a guy with an horrific speech problem and his attempts to rid himself of it quite commendably. He's complimented by a fine supporting cast, most notably Rush as his eccentric but caring aide, but not forgetting the likes of Deek Jacobi and Helena Bonham Carter.
Even if this is the kind of thing you'd usually avoid like the plague, the great performance of the lead actor is reason enough to go out of your way with this one, and all the awards and rave reviews it's received should bear testament to this. ****