The King’s Speech

Director: Tom Hooper
Writer: David Seidler 
Producer: Iain Canning/Emile Sherman/Gareth Unwin/Geoffrey Rush 
Starring: Colin Firth/Geoffrey Rush/Helena Bonham Carter 
Year: 2011
Country: UK/Australia
BBFC Certification: 12
Duration: 118 minutes

At the start of 2011, we had a brilliant start with 127 Hours, a courageous story about an adventurer who was trapped in a canyon for five days by a boulder that crushed his arm. The movie was fantastic and emotional with James Franco delivering an unforgettable performance as the adventurer. After seeing the movie, I thought that if movies kept the same quality as 127 Hours, we could be looking at a brilliant year for movies. The King’s Speech carries on that said quality with it’s brilliant story, phenomenal performances and stunning direction. In the 1930s, Bertie, the real Queen’s father, has been landed with the job of King of England, despite the fact he’s ill-equipped to do it. But with a plucky wife, he finds a speech therapist who, with some very unorthodox methods, gives him back his voice, something he desperately needs to lead his country in time of war. The story is simply fantastic and very well-written along with an intriguing script. Even if the story is predictable, it wasn’t meant to surprise or keep the audience guessing, it was meant to draw them in with its storytelling and its performances and it succeeds so beautifully. The entire cast were just fantastic as their characters and a few really stood out from the crowd. Colin Firth was simply magnificent as King George IV as we see him try to defeat his stutters and stammers with frustration and Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush were also exceedingly brilliant as Queen Elizabeth and Lionel Logue, the King’s speech therapist. All three of them were brilliant on screen and very believable as their characters. Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter deserve to win every award they are nominated for as their performances would be very hard for other actors to top.

Tom Hooper does a brilliant job in directing what is an instant classic and really shows that he is one of the better directors through The King’s Speech with some excellent cinematography and truly stunning direction. The best thing about The King’s Speech is the way it was written as the script, written by David Seidler, simply holds some great dialogue that could be memorable over the years as well as the captivating story. With the charming friendship between Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush and the chemistry between Helena Bonham Carter and Colin Firth, it’s easy to say that David Seidler should win an award for this movie. Overall, everything about The King’s Speech is brilliant and is something that everybody should see at least once for the story and the performances.

Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter have proven to everybody that they are some of the best actors and actresses in Hollywood through The King’s Speech. Armed with a magnificent script, mesmerising performances and fantastic storytelling, The King’s Speech could easily be the best film of 2011 already. This masterpiece truly deserves every award, praise and positive review it gets as there is nothing bad to say about this gem.

9/10