Movie Review of THE KING’S SPEECH

Since it was Colin Firth Day on Thursday, I decided to watch The King’s Speech for a second time.  This is one of those feel good movies and will appeal to people of all ages/generations. It tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II in the late 1930's. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stammer and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country through war. 

The King’s Speech stars Colin Firth (King George VI), Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth (“Mum”), and Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue.  Each shine in their roles but the movie centers on Bertie and Lionel.  I love how Lionel stuck to his work ethic even though he was talking to the royal couple.  You will laugh, tear up and root for them.  The director, Tom Hooper (John Adams), accomplished his goal of making Colin seem small in each frame (because the real King George VI was only 5’ 9”).  The writer, David Seidler (Tucker), was able to read the notebooks Lionel wrote.  Here is a blurb from an interview:

I started researching Bertie, and every once in a while, there was this blip on the radar screen called Lionel Logue. The royal family doesn't like talking about the royal stutter. It's an embarrassment, and it's swept under the carpet — even today, but much, much more then. So I asked a friend in London to do a little detective work for me, which I think consisted of looking in the telephone directory, and they came up with a surviving son, Valentine Logue. He said, "Yes, yes, yes, come to London. I'll talk to you and I have all the notebooks that my father kept while treating the king." This was the mother lode. But there was a little caveat. He said, "I'll do this, but you must get written permission from the Queen Mum." So I wrote to the Queen Mum, and she wrote back, "Please, not in my lifetime. The memory of those events is still too painful." And when the Queen Mum says to an Englishman, "Wait," an Englishman waits. I didn't figure I'd have to wait this long.

Run to the theatres and see this movie!  That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.