Two incredible performances

Rating: 8/10 (14 September 2014)

This movie starts in 1925 as King George directs his second son, the future King George VI (Colin Firth), to deliver a speech on the radio. He stutters his way through an embarrassing effort. It's a struggle with various bad teachers. His only support is his wife (Helena Bonham Carter). She finds unorthodox speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) surreptitiously without her husband's approval. He is more than very reluctant. He slowly develops a friendship with the amateur actor Lionel. Meanwhile his older brother King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce) is dating Wallis Simpson (Eve Best) culminating in his abdication and the installation of George as the new king.
This is an actors' movie. Both Firth and Rush are doing award worthy performances. They have created real flesh and blood human beings and not just some stuffy royal and his Professor Higgins. They have real feelings and fears. The fear in George is palpable. They have great interactions together especially early on. The movie does have a few slow spots in the middle but it's still one of the best of that year.