The King's Speech ...Impediment?

Rating: 7/10 (2 March 2011)

I'd had been told about The King's Speech for months on end. I was told by friends and people on the message boards of The Social Network, Inception and Black Swan that The King's Speech was a front runner for the Oscars...so finally, I saw the film.
I'm going to say that this movie doesn't deserve the praise it gets. I mean, yeah, it's a good movie. It's not even one of the best ten on the year. But, it's not the best screenplay, it's not the best actor, it's not the best director and above all, it's not the best picture of the year.
Tom Hooper's direction is average. Any director could have been at the helm and done this movie justice. Comparing this film to Inception, Inception was a director's movie. It deserved the best directing Oscar, but wasn't even nominated. David Fincher's directing of The Social Network was way better than Tom's.
Colin Firth doesn't convince me as a) King George VI, and b) that he has a difficult time speaking. It seemed a bit too forced throughout the movie and it didn't look like he had a stutter, but was more so a mute trying to speak at times. Sean Penn in I Am Sam (2001) was more deserving of an Oscar. He convinced me that he was mentally challenged. Colin Firth wasn't convincing.
I don't see how the screenplay for this was better than Inception. Both are original works, but I see Inception's screenplay better for the simple fact that anyone can relate to it. It's about dreams. The King's Speech will not appeal to everyone. Not all of the young generations are into a movie about history or the Royal family.
Finally, I don't understand how this film took the Oscar as the best film of the year. I fully and truly believe Inception is the greatest film ever made and the best of the year. I don't think The King's Speech is better than The Social Network, Black Swan or even Scott Pilgrim vs the World. It didn't have as splendid cinematography, it's visual effects weren't as good, it's story relied solely on Colin's performance (which was under-handed) and the direction wasn't anything special. As a movie, it's great, but not the best.
This is the classic film to show you just how awful the Academy is at picking their winners. It's an example of a film overpraised and overrated. It is not deserving of the awards it received. But, here we are, it won the four biggest awards.
I enjoyed the comedy in the film provided by Geoffrey Rush and I certainly enjoyed Helena's performance. I was a bit annoyed at Colin's performance throughout the film, though.
I think the worst part about this film is the audience it brings. My theatre was filled with people 30 and over, and a majority were well over 50 years of age. It was sad that a movie with seniors had two cell phones go off during the showing. The King's Speech is one more movie, much like Avatar, or The Godfather, that should (and will probably) be forgotten in years to come.