Tuesday, August 9, 2011

The King's Speech - 2010 - 3½ Stars

Actors: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush
Director: Tom Hooper

Note: Minor Spoilers Ahead

While The King's Speech is superficially about a stammering king who needs to consult with an eccentric speech therapist to cure his problem, the film is actually about the overwhelming political importance of acting and theater. Is it any wonder that this film won an Oscar? It unintentionally panders to Hollywood's basest and most self-congratulatory instincts.

The King's Speech is a marvelously acted film, and takes all the right turns at all the right places. The direction has some interesting choices, too - long takes, people positioned intentionally off-center in the frame - that make a talky film more visually appealing. Still, it's difficult for me to see past the artifice - I suppose I'm just glad that the United States doesn't have a fucking king.

No comments:

Post a Comment