Viewed in
2011 (2)
Formats
Movie theater (digital), DVD
Premise
Colin Firth stars as England's King George VI, who must overcome his stammer to rally his country for WWII.
Loved
The performances and the story.
Thoughts
A perfect marriage of character study and interesting story.
Colin Firth was riveting in his perfect performance, creating such a sympathetic and wonderful character. His stammer never felt manufactured and his humanity in portraying such a simple, yet immense obstacle just made me want to root for him with every spoken word. His acting accolades for this was well-deserved. Flanking this great performance were the equally great Geoffery Rush and Helena Bonham Carter, both full of character and presence. Carter could not be any sweeter.
Speaking of which, Harry Potter fans would get a kick out of other alums, such as Michael Gambon, Timothy Spall (sadly his Winston Churchill was more caricature than character), and composer Alexandre Desplat.
Unlike most movies that focus on trying to get an Oscar for the lead actor, this film had a wonderful story. Obviously, the premise was relatable and unique. I loved how writer David Seidler molded a teacher-pupil arc that was realistic, yet entertaining and full of heart. At the same time, it did a good job of portraying Britain at the time, putting war, politics, and tradition, along with personal obstacles at stake. I was pleasantly surprised by the well-timed moments of levity that helped add character and heart to the story.
My minor complaint would be Tom Hooper's fancy visual style. Sometimes, it worked great, like the claustrophobic, uncomfortable scenes of King George right before speaking publicly. Other times it came off as superfluous and distracting, such as putting the characters so off-centered I thought it was product placement for the wallpaper behind them.
A bigger issue was not with the film itself, but with the ridiculous R rating. If I had young kids, I would not hesitate to show them this wonderfully entertaining tale of courage, perseverance, and heart, just because it had about a minute's worth of f-bombs and s-bombs. One of my favorite films of the year.
What I would change
Dialed down the fancy camera work.
