Not as great as they all say. Movie in a box.

Rating: 4/10 (18 January 2011)

Eh, this movie didn't suck. It had funny parts and Helena Bonham Carter was a delight. That being said, it felt like a movie in a box. All the characters were more or less Hollywood stereotypes (over emotional protagonist, "unorthodox" aid to the protagonist, supportive wife, harsh father, wimpy priest, etc), and it made no real endeavors to be anything special. It's one of those motivational movies that's supposed to make you believe in yourself or whatever.
Also, this guy is the king of England, but the way this movie portrays his life just puts him in a box. You don't really see anyone outside of the castle or feel any of their reactions, nor do you get any sense of interaction between the king and much of anyone. In fact, the movie at no time gives the audience a sense that George cares about anyone in Britain.
To be fair, the character of George was well acted and done in a more or less believable fashion...if George VI was an emo kid. A very well acted emo kid, but one nonetheless.
Altogether, this movie likes to talk, but it doesn't like to show. For example, (and this is a spoiler) everyone talks a lot about David's mistress and how junked up her life is, but the little pinch of time they have her on the screen, she doesn't do much of anything, offensive or otherwise. In fact, Bonham-Carter's character looks very rude in comparison during that scene. However, the filmmakers do manage to skillfully portray her control over David with just a simple act, so they definitely get a point for that.
Bit more spoilers as I go on. This movie doesn't show all that much about Hitler, the resignation of the Prime Minister (why was he doing that again?), the significance of Churchill, and so on. When you're trying to talk about struggles a man must overcome, you must emphasize those struggles if anyone's going to sympathize with him. Heck, you just gotta show us something if you don't want the movie to be boring.
One more spoiler. At the end of the movie, George makes his speech and gets through it and stuff, and you're supposed to feel all warm and fuzzy because he finally made it. I had a hard time going along with this, mostly because George just made a statement saying that Britain was going into war.
This wasn't just a hard time for George, it was a hard time for all of Britain. We should feel that sense of drama that the country is stepping forward into one of the most perilous conflicts of all history. More than this, we should feel that George is not only learning to talk straight, but also learning to become a good leader. Maybe Logue helped him talk, but how did he overcome his fears of failing Britain? Surely they require more of their kings than making speeches.
Well, anyways, see it if you like. Not a great movie, but not the worst thing 2010 brought us.