Delightfully Decent

Rating: 8/10 (29 November 2010)

German forces are mobilizing against Poland, England is about to declare war, WW II is imminent and a man with a mere ceremonial position, who makes no decisions as to the fate of the nation or the world, feels as though he is in a dire place since he has to read a three page speech on the radio. Despite a movie about a leader during this time and place the movie focuses on a rather light and bland premise that actually comes out as novel and a little interesting. The almost minor personal issue to be overcome compared to the grandiosity of whats going on in the world effectively humanizes modern royalty.
Charming to witness the reluctant and later warmly developed friendship between royalty and a commoner where easy crowd pleasing moments come naturally and predictably (such as the shock and awe and merry excitement of having royalty come to the commoner's doorsteps asking for help) This personal nearly debilitating difficulty of someone with seemingly the best "job" in the world, becomes a nightmarish scenario. Some of us may have, others may not understand such a fear but the movie accomplishes the humanization of the Monarch making him relatable to the everyman.
Colin Firth was a good choice sustaining his customary stiff, uncomfortable manner throughout the movie. He did a good job mingling his well expressed uptightness with a stutter.
It is not the most interesting movie about the Monarchy as the movie "The Queen" comes closer to being, yet it was still a poignant crowd pleaser of a friendship between the King and his Speech Therapist.