A Simple Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (26 July 2012)

From the beginning scene in this film, where Colin Firth, then the Duke of York, struggles so much to speak in front of a large audience, you can tell that not only will the acting in this movie be incredible, but so will the movie itself.
From then on it move, albeit somewhat slowly, through the different stages of Firth's speech therapy. First his wife, portrayed by the always-amazing Helena Bonham Carter, finds him a speech therapist, played very well by Geoffrey Rush, and then he goes through the numerous stages of therapy, while encountering various struggles along the way, and eventually becoming king. This is also set to a classic score by Alexandre Despalt the truly compliments the mood and atmosphere of the film.
Now, I agree that that might not sound very entertaining. Who wants to watch Frith and Rush talk to each other for two hours while Bonham Carter looks on? And yet, it is the way these incredible actors bring the characters to life that, combined with this little-known tale from history, makes this movie so good.
And the acting truly is top-notch. Colin Firth delivers his best performance--and in my opinion, one of the best performances in cinematic history (although I can't pretend to be an expert on that sort of stuff)--and was totally deserving of winning the Oscar. Helena Bonham Carter is impeccable, although I might be a little biased as she is my favorite actress, but I know I'm not the only one who believes she deserved an Oscar as well. Geoffrey Rush is also great, in my opinion the weaker of the three performances, but still one of the best of the year. Others throughout the movie, such as Guy Pearce, Derek Jacobi, Michael Gambon, Timothy Spall (who does an amazing Winston Churchill), and even Jennifer Ehle all do very well in their respective rolls. It's really a master-class of ingenious British actors and actresses who all work together and help create this unique and wonderful film.
The story, too, is extremely fascinating, as it is definitely one you won't hear about in history class. You really get to learn how the royal system works, and it touches on the relationships between certain members of the royal family, and also how they live. I would definitely recommend this movie, even if you don't tend to like history movies in general, because if you look past all of that, it's still a very uplifting story--you will be rooting for Firth the entire way, believe me.