Many reviewers have criticized director Tom Hooper's ""The King's Speech"" by calling it a calculation to win Oscars. The film is, after all, a British period piece set during the buildup to World War II and features a main character who must overcome a disability, all characteristics talismanic of ""Oscar bait"" movies. I entered the film with that cynicism, too, but leaving the theater I felt overcome with joy that my fears were misplaced. This is a tender, wonderful film deserving of any awards it receives.
Colin Firth stars as Prince Albert, or ""Bertie,"" the second son of King George V, cursed in childhood with a crippling stammer. We see him barely able to finish a few sentences in an awkward speech which begins the film, after which his wife enlists the help of Lionel Logue, a failed actor-turned speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush. With Logue's controversial methods, Bertie learns that he must become his own man as he both inherits the throne from his abdicating older brother Edward and faces the looming threat of war with Germany.
Bertie's triumph over adversity may have seemed cheesy or cliché if not handled earnestly. But Hooper, who has worked with historical subject matter previously on the HBO miniseries ""John Adams,"" seems to have an eye for exposing the humanity in royal figures. Asking the audience to merely tolerate the struggles of the wealthy and powerful, let alone sympathize with them, is no easy task, but Hooper has overseen an intelligent production with the best ensemble cast of the year.
Firth's performance is particularly astonishing. Actors who play people with disabilities frequently become histrionic to draw attention to themselves, but Firth never overdoes it. Every skip and pause in his sentences seem real, particularly in the film's climactic last speech, as he shows us a man who has put up countless emotional walls to protect a vulnerable core. Two scenes in which he attempts to connect with his daughters may move you to tears.
But while it's clearly Firth's show, the rest of the actors support each other perfectly. Rush is very funny as the ballsy but effective therapist, whose own failure as an actor allows him to empathize with Bertie's shortcomings. Helena Bonham Carter's role as the Queen Mum may have seemed thankless on paper, but she too is credible as Albert's supportive wife who may be more ready to become royalty than her husband. Guy Pearce and Timothy Spall each have brief but memorable roles as Edward and Winston Churchill respectively. Seldom does one see such an amalgam of great actors in one film, all clearly passionate for a story, all clearly at the top of their game.
The film, which was made on only $15 million including loans from the UK Film Council, has the look of a picture that costs five times that. There are lavish costumes and gorgeous sets, the bread and butter of any good period piece. Danny Cohen's cinematography is elegant and smart although I could've done with fewer wide-angle shots, and Alexandre Desplat, who seems to score every movie I see nowadays, produces yet another perfect, understated soundtrack.
David Seidler's script uses actual historical speeches and utilizes the real diaries of Lionel Logue seamlessly, further contributing to the film's mixture of historical and emotional credibility. Seidler himself had a speech impediment as a youth, and his love of this story provoked him to write the film decades later. Without his and the entire production's love and care for this story, ""The King's Speech"" would've just been an episode of ""Masterpiece Theater."" But there is humanity and an authenticity in this film that clearly makes it, if not the best film of the year, certainly among 2010's most pleasant.
