“The King’s Speech” is a nice movie… and I mean that as an insult. It is unabashedly English in every way. It is a period piece. It is about the royal family. It is classically stiff. It is pleasant. It is professionally made. It also stars Colin Firth. All those ingredients add up to a typically English Sunday roast. It is tasty and good for you, but I feel like I have had it many times before.
The true story is that of King George VI — the man who took the crown after his brother Edward’s famous abdication. With England on the precipice of war with Germany, the country looked to the monarchy for strength and leadership. However, George had a severe stammer which made public speaking a nightmare. After many years of attempted therapy, he and his wife were reaching their last straw. Enter Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist whose methods were unorthodox and revolutionary. His relationship with the king became a lifelong friendship. This film tells the story of that friendship and the ways in which Logue managed to help the king lead a nation though a dark time.
Everything about the film screams quality. The cast is uniformly superb. The script is elegant and intelligent. The costume design, the set design, the cinematography — all of it is of the highest caliber. I cannot find fault in anything but my own prejudices. I am simply a little tired of the standard British period piece. It is BAFTA-bait instead of Oscar-bait. It is stale and uninspired. I just wish the British film industry would venture outside of its “comfort zone” once in a while.
- Elizabethan drama.
- WWII drama.
- Literary biopic.
- Shakespearean adaptation.
- British gangster flick.
- Python-esque silliness with comedian-du-jour.
- Austen adaptation.
Perhaps it is unfair to take out my frustration with the British Film Industry’s lack of imagination on this particular movie. I promise not to register that frustration in my final grade. Unfortunately, “The King’s Speech” made me feel like venting a little. It is just such an unbelievably typical English production that I had to say something. I do the same thing with Hollywood blockbusters too.
Still, with all that being said, “The King’s Speech” is a perfectly nice film about an interesting subject. It is beautifully written, directed and performed. I have nothing unpleasant to say about it. It is vanilla ice-cream. Yes it is bland and uninspired, but it is still ice-cream… and ice-cream is always good.
