I'll Be Expecting a King's Speech Come Oscar Night

Rating: 10/10 (30 January 2011)

In what I considered one of the worst years on movie record, 2010, comes the (ONLY) second five-star feature: The King's Speechand I'm not even into period-piece dramas.
Beyond the luscious landscapes, sets and overall cinematography, was the originality and comradeship of the two leads: King George VI (the ever-brilliant Colin Firth) and Lionel Logue (the even-better Geoffrey Rush.) Not only did they drive the movie, but I couldn't get enough of (the) Rush.
Maybe I see myself in secondary actorsin real life. Though everyone's focusing on Natalie Portman in Black Swan, I was drawn, almost exclusively to Mila Kunis – who I strongly feel she should win for best supporting actress, regardless of Portman winning. Same here: people are all up in ARMS for the King (Firth) while I absolutely loved every minute of screen time for Rush.
I hope I'm not short-selling this movie. It's a beautiful, nearly masterpiece of filmmaking, tale of a stuttering soon-to-be King who must align the UK when Hitler's setting the stage for his eventual downfall.
Regrettably, it took me awhile to see this. Again, I'm not into costume-dramas and I initially thought this was too simple of a story of a man who has trouble speaking, but must overcome the handicap in order to be the, well, voice of his country.
My bad. This movie lifted me. It made the 1930s as real as if Doc Brown had me ride shotgun there. Full circle: thanks to the unorthodox methods of Lionel the speechmaker.
His methods obviously works, as in, getting speech-impediments curbed, but his "let's keep it on the same playing field" was what perked my interest. For an example, just listen and love the name he uses for the king.
The movie is very simple, as the plot's already stated in my review. But it's character-driven, which I love, it's moving and definitely sparked more interest in me about the ins/outs of the kingdom in England than another movie I cherished: The Queen.
I feel I'm really simplifying this film, and even then, I strongly suggest you watch this. It won't move mountains, but it might uplift you. Rekindle the hope in powerful movies (and performances.) And it might give you (yet another, but very nicely) point of WWII-view you might not have considered, like the direct combat Saving Private Ryan or Atonement did.
It's rated Ronly for languagethink of it as therapy. And it's funny, thanks again to Rush. He had me rolling in parts. Maybe I see myself in himyeah, I have no tolerance for "political" or "authoritative" figures or heads of states. We're all humans and if we must respect each other and coexist, we must stand one by one, I believe. Thankfully Lionel teaches/preaches that. He's my English Idol.