The King’s Speech
The King’s Speech: after becoming King by default George VI must overcome a vicious stammer and his fear of public speaking. I was really looking forward to writing up an “It’s not perfect” review, but read Colin’s one at (Pick ‘n’ Mix Flix) covers all my points and reads better too – I feel redundant! Anyway, here goes… I can’t believe all the hype is focused on Firth when Rush absolutely blows him – and everyone else – out the water; his performance is criminally overlooked and under-publicised. Not to take anything away from Colin however, as he was still really good. Guy Pearce on the other hand easily walks away with worst actor in this picture. For such a grand, big film it seemed to lack a cinematic feel, landing in big budget TV territory for me (Hooper is a TV director after all). It was surprisingly funny given the somewhat mundane subject matter too. My biggest gripe was that this is 100% unashamedly Oscar bait, what with someone overcoming an affliction, an unlikely friendship, fly on the wall Royalty insight, and being an Historic piece… It’s a good film, but everything is way too safe and it plays to the crowd a little bit too much.
Score: 7/10
Paragraph Film Reviews 
sorry to have gazumped you, but thanks for the nice words :-)
LikeLike
Overall the film is a major achievement, with Firth presenting us with a great profile in courage, a portrait of that recurrent figure, the stammerer as hero. Good Review!
LikeLike
My sister called it “a film for people who never go to the cinema”, which sums it up perfectly for me. Competent, but also annoyingly self-important. Frankly, I’d rather watch even bad Darren Aronofsky than anything directed by that journeyman, Tom Hooper.
To get in the mood for the Oscars, check this out: http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1901104
LikeLike
I’ve got to disagree on the air of self-importance; it’s a prestige picture, and maybe there’s an assumed self-importance that we apply to such films because they’re made for winning awards. But the difference between those films and The King’s Speech is that The King’s Speech is actually really, really good, entertaining on every level and also crafted well enough that it’s able to mine tons of conflict out of what’s really a low-drama plot.
LikeLike
Totally agree with you…I think Rush stole the show. Firth gave a solid performance but it was Rush that I kept watching. Yes, “overlooked and under-publicized” is right:)
But over all, this is a film that is like period piece film “light” and I think engages the audience rather than preached to them. I liked it quite a bit more than I expected.
LikeLike
Normally I can tell when I’m being emotionally manipulated, but I didn’t notice that with TKS.
LikeLike
Despite the hype, I had relatively low expectations because I really dislike anything that has to do with history (boring!). But it surprised me. It was funny, the characters were engaging and there were moments that I found moving. I didn’t think it was the best of the best nor do I think it deserves 12 Oscar nominations but it was a really good film.
LikeLike