Summary: The story of King George VI of Britain (Colin Firth), his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.
Oh it's oh so British, hidden emotions, stiff upper lip, the royals, I say! I do love a period drama specially the costumes. The feel of this film was lovely, cutting from opulence to the everyday seamlessly. The film had real texture from the sets and fabrics used and is visually stunning.
You can see Firth has gone to great efforts to develop his role of King George VI, the restrain and frustration of the King's speech impediment is in every facial expression. Helena Bonham Carter is the extraordinary proud Queen Elizabeth, everything she does expresses royalty, etiquette and pride. Despite all this it is really Geoffrey Rush that is the star of the show as the speech therapist Lionel Logue, who is quirky and eccentric. As Firth holds all his emotions as bay Rush wears his heart on his sleeve, the interchanges between them are touching and amusing.
About half way through the film I did find myself getting abit despondent with this film. I think this was due to the character of King George, every time you warmed to him he seemed to take 2 steps back into the coldlessness of royalty. I craved for a film based around freeing repressed emotions, friendship and trust but instead it was centred on the royal public stereotypes and didn't really move forward.
The plot was good but it seemed to be a film of many beginnings, the beginning of King George VI's speech therapy, the beginning of his friendship with Logue and the beginning of his rule as king. At the end i was frustrated with the lack of conclusion and with the number of things that weren't tied up, specially Logue's obsession with Shakespeare and acting.
Overall this is the optimity of the British film the Americans love to see and a good film to take your mam to. I am not surprised it has been nominated for an Oscar as it is the token British nod like The Queen and An Education. I can't help but think that if Firth wins best actor it will be more for his performance in A Single man rather than this.
Overall: Watch A Single Man or Shine they're much better. 3 out of 5.
