Beautifully shot and superbly acted yet at times I thought the story was a little slow and at times boring.

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2011)

The King's Speech stars Colin Firth as King George VI and Geoffery Rush as his speech therapist Lionel Logue. The film follows King George VI's, or Bertie's, rise to become King of England, and his struggle with his speech impediment while also dealing with the life of being in the Royal Family. All the while the beginning of World War II is lingering in the background providing for much of the political side of the film.
The direction of the film was brilliantly done by Tom Hooper, especially during the scenes between Firth and Rush. Most of the scenes are just simple conversations between the two but Hooper creates this beautiful environment, often in Lionel's office, reminding me a lot of a painting, or perhaps a portrait to more accurate. He also excels during George's speeches to the public by really creating a sense of anxiety in the audience that George himself is feeling with his speech impediment. Most of all, he captures the post World War II England beautifully immersing you into the environment.
The most impressive aspect of The King's Speech by far is the cast. Firth is at his absolute best as King George VI and won the much deserved Best Actor Oscar. He brings out George's strong, stubborn personality while also showing his vulnerability while very realistically speaking with a stutter. The best scenes with Firth are during his sessions with his speech therapist, Geoffery Rush. They play off each other so well during these scenes and they are only strengthened by Hooper's direction. Helena Bonham Carter plays Queen Elizabeth and as always is a strong presence on the screen that only aides Firth's performance as the King. Guy Pearce also shows up a little during the film, as George's brother Edward, or King Edward for a small stint, and proves that once again (Animal Kingdom) that he can keep up with high caliber performers.
The story itself is where I felt The King's Speech was faulty, and it may not be fair to just say it's the King's Speech or just any historical film in general. The scenes between Firth and Rush are incredibly well done and pretty fun to watch on screen. However the scenes that are in between are where I feel it slows down and I found myself just wanting Rush to come back on screen. I do understand that those scenes are important to the character development of George because they mainly deal with the Royal Family, but I just found them to be too boring.
Overall, The King's Speech is very well made film and in terms of a historical biography, it does it's job. I just found it dull at times but luckily the direction and casting was enough to keep me entertained and interested in the characters. I did enjoy the inside look it gave at the Royal Family, and especially what their role is in politics. The pressure and stress that simply being born in to a family is a pretty unbelievable thought. Being born into royalty and the pressure that not only comes from your family, but The Royal Family at that. It's well worth a viewing even if it's only to just see the performances, but as a film on the whole I thought it failed with the overall story and it's not the production's fault, I just think the source material wasn't really there to begin with. I felt like I was watching a history textbook and that's the kind of material I try to escape when watching a movie.