Ggggood, bbbbut not great

Rating: 8/10 (12 March 2011)

This is a biopic of King George VI (Colin Firth) which focuses on the formation of his friendship with Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a speech therapist who taught him how to overcome a stammer, so that the King could deliver inspiring speeches to his British subjects, particularly during World War II. Logue succeeds where others have failed because he refuses to patronize the King simply because he is royal, and instead he provides the King not only with speech therapy but also much needed emotional counseling which allows the King to mature into a man, if not a monarch.
The King is depicted as insecure and childish who apparently acquired these traits as well as his speech impediment during his childhood as a result of an overbearing father, mean nannies and having lived a sheltered, privileged life. His wife, Queen Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) appears to be his polar opposite - a confident, somewhat haughty take-charge type of gal. However, this was distracting because the real Queen was nothing like this and the portrayal of such a mismatched couple leaves the audience wondering how the two could have related to one another on any level.
With a timeless story line and a dream cast who delivered excellent performances, this was clearly a good movie, but worthy of the Best Picture? I don't think so. Although this is a buddy-flick, it has the characteristics of a trite love story where boy meets girl, then loses girl, and then gets the girl in the end. And the ending falls flat - the King manages to deliver a public speech without falling apart (hence the namesake, "The King's Speech")...the end, or more appropriately...ThThThThat's all folks.
This movie probably won best picture because it is so relevant to Hollywood. Movie stars are America's answer to royalty where you have bunch of egotistical, pampered wrecks who surround themselves with "yes" people when what they really need is someone like Logue to give them a good slap in the face.