Quite enchanting !

Rating: 9/10 (26 January 2011)

Rarely do you get to see a movie that promises a lot and then, lives up to it's promise. The King's Speech is a rare piece, indeed.
The movie starts off with a stammering speech and signs off with a staggering one, with hardly any glitches in between. The basic premise of the movie is fairly simple. A king with a stutter is helped by a maverick speech therapist to overcome his problem and become an inspiring orator. That sounds like a very known territory to most movie goers. But few minutes into the movie, and you realize that this one simply pushes the bar a notch higher.
It is a very pleasing movie, doesn't lead the audience into a lot of uncomfortable questions. However, the artistry lies in the overall balance of the movie. You slowly start getting gripped by David Seidler's screenplay. The actors are superb, takes it slow and steady with superb grip on each of their characters. While Colin Firth puts in a spectacular performance (one you can't miss), Geoffrey Rush goes a bit more old school and pulls off a subtle and deep portrayal. One that fills up your heart but also keeps your brain active. Humor comes in here and there, with a very easy flow and steady pace. Not for a single moment do you perceive the movie as dull. Helena Bonham Carter is good. Guy Pearce is appropriate, though he does look a bit too casual at times (maybe that was an intentional character flaw).
Most of the movie had been filmed indoors, albeit with eloquent art direction. But the occasional sequences shot outside had been filmed very beautifully, portraying a very dreamy picture of the then England. Sometimes, the camera goes in too close to the characters, and stays there for a while, just long enough to give us a sense of suffocation, quite an artistic equivalent of a speech disorder ! But then again, negative shades had been whitewashed with joyous ones and you never perceive it as a dark movie. Direction wise, Tom Hooper is bang on ! This is the kind of a movie where you want to give a lot of credit to the director. The set-up is such that the dramatic elements are high but needs to be tamed, so that it doesn't goes over board. And Mr.Hooper hits the bulls eye ! Perfect balance.
All points considered, it's a brilliant movie and a must watch. And a very strong competitor at the Oscars this year !