At heart, this is a fairy-tale - a story about a shy young prince helped by a wise wizard to break an evil spell and lead his nation to a glorious victory - except that it's actually based on a true story of King George VI (Queen Elizabeth's father) overcoming a crippling stammer with the help an eccentric Australian speech therapist. One of many installements of the "British Royal Family" saga, chronologically located after "The Madness Of King George", "The Young Victoria" and "Mrs Brown", and just before "The Queen". Part "My Fair Lady" and part "Rocky", the film is most remarkable for its performances: Geoffrey Rush chews the scenery as a real-life Henry Higgins, Colin Firth is amazing as King George VI, Timothy Spall steals every scene he's in as Winston Churchill, Guy Pearce is a flawless King Edward VIII and Michael Gambon is scarily effective as King George V.
September 9, 2010
The King's Speech (2010) ***
At heart, this is a fairy-tale - a story about a shy young prince helped by a wise wizard to break an evil spell and lead his nation to a glorious victory - except that it's actually based on a true story of King George VI (Queen Elizabeth's father) overcoming a crippling stammer with the help an eccentric Australian speech therapist. One of many installements of the "British Royal Family" saga, chronologically located after "The Madness Of King George", "The Young Victoria" and "Mrs Brown", and just before "The Queen". Part "My Fair Lady" and part "Rocky", the film is most remarkable for its performances: Geoffrey Rush chews the scenery as a real-life Henry Higgins, Colin Firth is amazing as King George VI, Timothy Spall steals every scene he's in as Winston Churchill, Guy Pearce is a flawless King Edward VIII and Michael Gambon is scarily effective as King George V.
