MOVIE REVIEW: THE KING'S SPEECH

I was more than a little skeptical walking into the theater to see The King's Speech. It appeared to me that the movie was calculatingly put together to win an Oscar. It has every ingredient known to lure the Academy: rich history, the Royal Family, perfect costuming, impending war, a disability and a skilled and seasoned cast. Before I even sat down I was feeling manipulated. In case you haven’t noticed, I expect a lot from a movie. I’m restless by nature and for me to sit in a movie theater for over 2 hours; I want to be entertained and so engrossed, I don’t notice the time. Regardless of the movies’ occasional slow moments, the Weinstein brothers (The Reader, A Single Man and watch for Blue Vlanetine) pull it off. I loved it. The movie is about an unlikely but profound friendship. With all its lavishness, it is just that simple.

World War II is heating up and the recently crowned King George VI (played perfectly and brilliantly by Collin Firth), has a big problem. It's up to him to bring England together as a nation, to boost morale and strengthen its resolve against Hitler. But that's hard to do when you can’t string two words together. The king is seriously hampered by a very nasty speech impediment and he must give the crucial rallying speech to his nation and not only not stutter; he must give the speech of a lifetime. Can he do it?

Fortunately, at the advice of his always-supportive wife, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (Helena Bonham Carter) he's been meeting with a groundbreaking speech instructor, Lionel Logue - actually an unsuccessful actor, played by Geoffrey Rush (who manages to do incredible things with this role). The relationship between the two men, although adversarial at first, inevitably develops into something quite close, and crucial. Yes, there are the peripheral details of the war, the stammer, the cold and abusive father but it is the friendship of these two men that is not just the heart of the film, but also the point of the film.

The period set decoration and costumes are impeccable. The direction of Tom Hooper (best known for helming the HBO John Adams mini-series) is never dull, as he keeps things moving along at a respectable pace. Along the way, Michael Gambon and Guy Pearce show up in supporting roles as members of the royal family. Timothy Spall plays Winston Churchill for the second time in his career (previously in Jackboots On Whitehall) The involvement of these actors is always a good thing.

You will walk out of the movie theater thinking, “This is not the best movie I have ever seen but an excellent one”. And… it will stay with you long after you leave the theater. I love that.

Lionel Logue and his wife Mertyle Gruenert

p.s. In a newly-discovered handwritten letter on Buckingham Palace notepaper, dated February 28, 1952, Queen Elizabeth told Logue that her husband had owed him a debt of gratitude for helping him not merely with his stutter, but his whole life.

"I think that I know perhaps better than anyone just how much you helped the King, not only with his speech, but, through that, his whole life, and outlook on life," she wrote to Logue one year before his death. "I shall always be deeply grateful to you for all you did for him." Of the King, she added: "He was such a splendid person, and I don't believe that he ever thought of himself at all. I did so hope that he might have been allowed a few years of comparative peace after the many anguished years he had to battle through so bravely. But it was not to be." Queen Elizabeth's letter to Logue was unearthed by the Australian speech therapist's grandson, Mark, among family papers a few months ago.