An entertaining and lavish crowd-pleasing event

Rating: 8/10 (25 February 2011)

Much like The Fighter, I saw The King's Speech just before Christmas and never got around to writing a review until now. It had been hyped since its premiere at the festivals in Telluride and Toronto in September, and was always thought to be a front runner for the big prize at the Academy Awards. I clamoured to see the movie as it got more hyped as the weeks went on, and when I finally got to see the film in limited release, in a surprisingly packed theatre no less, I was more than just a little surprised.
Taking its tale from a true story, Prince Albert, the Duke of York (Colin Firth) has a stammer and cannot speak properly in front of a crowd, or just about anyone. Many "unconventional" treatments are sought to try and fix it (the audience sadly does not get to see just how many), before the future Queen Mother Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) finds Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian living in London whose eccentric methods just may do the trick. After a rather disappointing first session, Albert leaves in an aggravated hurry, not thinking Logue's methods were of any use. But as it becomes clear that he may soon get a seat on the throne as the King of England, Albert heads back to see if Logue can truly help him overcome his speech problems.
While British period pieces have always been Oscar fodder, they typically run rather long and despite housing incredible performances, usually end up being rather stuffy and boring (Stephen Frears' The Queen is a particular standout in my mind). And while there is a bit of stuffiness and boredom in some of its proceedings, The King's Speech manages to evoke an even greater sense of emotion than I thought it ever would. It is heartbreaking in some instances, outrageously hilarious in others, and when it gets to certain crescendos, deeply moving. The controversial and much discussed scene involving Firth yelling out a series of expletives in anger is of particular note, because it manages to be all three at once. But above all, the film manages at all times to be a crowd-pleasing event, always anticipating the audience's reaction. Having seen a plethora of films last year ranging from incredible to absolute garbage, I can say this film was the one that elicited the most varied and prominent reactions from the audience.
While all of the technical elements are as great as you expect them to be, it is the acting that delivers in spades at every turn.
Firth is simply magnificent as Albert and future King George VI. He pours his heart into every scene, and helps take the audience on the wild range of emotions the film helps deliver. He is enchanting and animated in every single one of his scenes, and you just cannot help but feel for him throughout his ordeal and ultimate quest to overcome his stammer. Firth is simply inspiring, and delivers yet another incredible performance to add to his already overflowing collection. His work in A Single Man was already enough to deserve every accolade possible. His work here only further establishes it.
While Rush's performance as Logue is not as Earth-shatteringly incredible as Firth's, it is still rather excellent and considerably entertaining. He is more nuanced and low-key in his portrayal than I thought he would be, but he manages to hold his own even when he is eliciting scene chomping responses from Firth. His work here is much less pronounced (even though he has a few bizarre over-the-top scenes), but is the exact ingredient needed to make Firth's as astonishing as it is. Seeing them play off each other, just chatting between each other in often lengthy scenes, is worth seeing the film even if it was not the as wildly acclaimed as it was. Rush knows exactly what buttons and emotions to convey, and while he is nowhere near as consistent as Firth has been, he still manages to prove what an awesome talent he is.
Supporting turns from Michael Gambon, Timothy Spall, Derek Jacobi and the always reliable Guy Pierce are all great, and help keep the film as lively as possible. Carter as Elizabeth is of particular note, because even though she is completely overshadowed by Firth and Rush, she still delivers some of her best work in her role. It is a thankless job as she is more of a background figure than anything else, but her grace and silent affections are quite visible at all times. She is the woman behind the man, and she always manages to make something of her character in every scene she gets. Her great work here more than helps to wash out some of the awful taste she left in her ridiculously over-the-top performance as the Red Queen in the horrifically disappointing Alice in Wonderland.
But for all its greatness and how incredibly entertaining a film that The King's Speech is, I found that it was merely content with being a great film driven by incredible performances, and nothing more. I have had trouble in the weeks following seeing the film just trying to pin-point what holds the film back from eternal greatness, and it has held me back from writing how I felt about the film. I do not want to dwell or criticize it like some have for how it feels like a glorified "Movie of the Week" (only for fleeting moments, never to the exaggerated depths some have indicated), but in a year that gave us such wildly original films like Black Swan, Inception and The Social Network, which really challenged us as an audience, The King's Speech seems merely content as being an entertaining throwaway. It is a great film, but compared to others, it just does not seem great enough.
8.5/10.