Well-Acted, Well-Paced Historical Drama

Rating: 8/10 (6 February 2011)

This is the true story of King George VI (Colin Firth) and his rise to power while also fighting off a problem with stammering. Not to mention the rise of Nazi Germany, and any number of other problems.
I first watched this film in early February, 2011. One month prior, "King's Speech" had ranked fairly low on my to-see list. Then the buzz started coming, the Academy Awards nominated the film for an astounding twelve awards, and reports started to come in that the film was matching the hype. So now I have seen it, and I must say it was pretty good. Flash forward to April 2011 and I have seen it again -- the film holds up well, and while we may debate about whether it deserved all its awards, it certainly earned what it got.
I know little of Colin Firth's work, and have never appreciated Helena Bonham Carter, but this film shows them both to be on top of their game. Shots were scheduled around Carter, who was working on Harry Potter at the time, but she used her free time to study up on her character with historians. I would say she put her all into this picture.
Firth seemed to be a shoo-in for the best actor Oscar, and sure enough he nailed it. Geoffrey Rush is always great, and this is no exception... I was hoping for a supporting actor win the way he uses his mime training to move his body fluidly.
The film was fairly lengthy for such a simple topic, but it was paced very well and because of that could probably have been even longer and I would have been just fine with it. Some people are complaining about the film's historical accuracy, and I hear that, but the film in general is pretty great and the Nazi aspect can be overlooked. It was interesting to see Queen Elizabeth II so young...
You might not recognize her, but Claire Bloom (Chaplin's "Limelight") is here, and if you are interested in commentaries, check this one out. The commentary includes director Tom Hooper singing "Montage" from "Team America: World Police", and he repeatedly calls the film a bromance.