Flawless

Rating: 9/10 (23 September 2011)

You'd be hard pressed to find anything really negative to say about The King's Speech. Even if you try hard to question the historical accuracy, as some critics have, you still have a fantastic story of perseverance, of loyalty, and of friendship. Firth and Rush give phenomenal performances - for both, I suspect, the best performance of their career (Rush at least has some competition with Shine). Helena Bonham Carter gives an uncharacteristically low-key and humble performance, and the entire supporting cast - Guy Pearce, Timothy Spall, Derek Jacobi and Michael Gambon especially - are cast to perfection and do a terrific job. From a purely dramatic and cinematic perspective, The King's Speech is a near-perfect movie and deserves of an Oscar more than most winners of recent years.