The King’s Speech, which opened in 2010, recently captured the Best Ensemble award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. In addition to snaring the prestigious prize, Colin Firth received the Best Actor award. The King’s Speech is also a contender for an Academy Award for Best Picture.
The three main characters (Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter) are up for Leading Actor, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress awards, respectively.
The King’s Speech is a renowned film but is it worth its salt?
Accompanied by my sister, Milk Duds, and Junior Mints, I saw The King’s Speech at our very own Albany Twin. Set in the Great Depression, the film revolves around the speech impediment of future English king, Albert “Bertie,” played by Firth. His wife (Carter) urges him to seek professional aide after an embarrassing on-air oration. Lionel Logue (Rush) and “Bertie” form a serious bromance as Lionel works to repair “Bertie’s” hindrance.
It is the classic tale. The King’s Speech follows the run-of-the-mill formula for over-coming-mountainous-obstacles movies. The characters bond, everything is working, someone screws up, they fix their mistake, and then all is well. You’ve seen it before.
What affords The King’s Speech its prestige is, perhaps, the stunning performance by Firth. He encapsulates the speech impediment perfectly. As I watched him attempt to say what he needs to say, I felt, somewhat insensitively, like screaming, “Spit it out!” at his gurgling silhouette. He deserves his commendations for portraying the struggling king.
I did not enjoy the film quite as much as some of the other Oscar contenders I’ve seen (True Grit, Inception, The Social Network) but more than The Kids Are All Right.
The King’s Speech is comparable to The Blind Side, in that each film depicts a standard story but does it with talented actors and a heart-warming, superior, more engaging manner.
As Sandra Bullock deserved her Leading Actress award, Colin Firth deserves a Leading Actor award.
Movie stills courtesy of: nononsensefilm.com and mybodymovies on Blogspot.
