THE KING'S SPEECH (Tom Hooper, 2010) ***1/2

Rating: 8/10 (5 March 2011)

Though I have had it for some time, I decided to watch this the day after its Oscar triumph – since I had an inkling THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010) was not going to make it (I was still surprised that the director of that one, David Fincher, lost out to a newcomer). Like most viewers, I am wary of a British costumer (though the period in this case was not too far removed from the present) but, since this came in the form of a history lesson (apart from the nominal human drama), the result proved more palatable than usual. That said, Hooper's directorial style here seems to rely a lot on unusual angles (even if these were not really necessitated by this type of genteel fare).
The major contributing factors to the film's success are a witty script (by 73 year-old David Seidler, who also emerged a winner at this year's Oscars) and, of course, the ensemble acting from a variety of thespians. Colin Firth is the stuttering King George VI – the virtually 'uncontested' recipient of the Best Actor Oscar (in a role typically favored by the Academy). Nominee Helena Bonham-Carter appears as Firth's understanding but feisty wife, ditto Geoffrey Rush his iconoclastic speech therapist (he and Firth, incidentally, had already appeared together in another Best Picture upset i.e. Shakespeare IN LOVE [1998]) – in a way, his role here recalls his own Oscar-winning turn as a schizophrenic pianist in SHINE (1996), while his Executive Producer credit guaranteed the film end incongruously on a close-up of himself! In support are Guy Pearce as the somewhat immature King Edward VIII (who was forced to abdicate the throne because of his illicit affair with an American divorcée'), Derek Jacobi as the pompous Archbishop Of Canterbury, Michael Gambon as the confrontational King George V, Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill, Anthony Andrews as Former PM Stanley Baldwin (who also tendered his resignation in view of a tolerant attitude shown towards Hitler's European offensive), and Claire Bloom as the Queen during Gambon's rule – oddly enough, I failed to recognize the last two mentioned!
The premise is simple enough: Firth's speech impediment threatens his role as the country's regal voice (brought to the fore with the advent of radio and, though only the Duke Of York, he was forced to assume this responsibility due to Gambon's final illness and Pearce's controversial private life). Though he had tried every manner of quack doctor, his wife is adamant that he overcome this problem – eventually, he goes to an Australian who thinks nothing of his patient's rank, treating him as an equal and calling him with the diminutive Bertie. For this reason, the two start off on the wrong foot but then settle down to business – via vocal coaching, incorporating tongue-twisting phrase and swearing(!), and physical exercise – only to clash again over what appears to be Rush's meddling with affairs of State, before the ultimate 'miracle' is performed. In fact, the King gets through his all-important address to the nation when war breaks out virtually without a hiccup, pardon the pun. The best scenes are the afore-mentioned dissolution of the 'partnership' set in a park, the Coronation rehearsal which also involves the scheming Jacobi's revelation that Rush has no medical qualifications (he is a "failed actor" who learned his 'craft' assisting shell-shocked soldiers during WWI!), and the predictably stirring finale – both in view of the sentiments in the statement being read and, of course, Firth's personal accomplishment.