#4 The King's Speech 2010

The King's Speech
Released: 2010
IMDB Rating (at the moment): 8,4/10 #103

Directed by: Tom Hooper
Written by: David Seidler
Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter

I just remembered, being as disoriented as I am, that I watched The King's Speech today at the cinema. And since it is among the 250 films I am going to review, it is easier to do it now.

The film focuses on King George IV of Britain and his way to the throne, it is about his stammering and his help from a speech therapist to make him sure that he is the rightful heir to the throne.

As soon as I heard of this film I wanted to watch it. The story is in itself, considering it is actual history, very intriguing. The film's dialogue is very well written and remarkably humorous in its way. It was, in my opinion, an easy film to digest. Nothing really special to be honest, but not a boring or bad film in any way.

I specifically liked the way the film evolved, it got more interesting, even if I knew all along what was going to happen. It is, as I said, very well written and Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush makes a remarkably good duo here.

There is a scene in which king George VI (Firth) goes through different ways to treat his stammering, and it is indeed hilarious to watch. But the real core in this film is the insecurities and the beautiful friendship that evolves between him and his speech therapist (Rush). And the last scene is really a knockout.

The direction seems to me pretty ordinary, and nothing is really groundbreaking. But I would recommend anyone to see this film, and I may place it in the top 250, although somewhere in the bottom of the list. This is just an presumption considering I have only watched 4 of the films recently.

The screenplay writer David Seidler suffered from a stammer himself as a child and he actually wrote a letter addressed to the Queen asking her if he could write a film script about King George VI's stammering problems. She asked him not to while she was still alive, she gave too painful memories as reason. But now Seidler became the oldest man to date to win an Academy Award as a screenplay writer.