Ah, can you smell it in the air? That pleasant aroma of red carpets and brass statues can only mean one thing: it’s Oscar season, baby! Once again, the superbowl for the movie nerd demographic is about to commence, and once again there’s exactly one crap-ton of great dramas that were released in a torrent just before 2010 came to a close. Most of these films look pretty decent, although I have to admit that the top ten contenders this year do not excite me nearly so much as the picks for last year’s Best Picture category, which contained a veritable buffet of cinematic deliciousness.
That’s not to say that there aren’t one or two films this year that I think should receive a standing ovation. Which brings me to the subject at hand: How freaking awesome was King’s Speech?!
Okay, I’ll step back a bit and assume maybe one or two of you haven’t seen this thing yet and get you caught up. Set in England in the years leading up to World War II, King’s Speech tells the story of Prince Albert, called “Bertie” by his family, the son of the overbearing King George V. Being a prince isn’t a bad job. Bertie gets to dress snappily in top hats, live in big houses, and make inspiring speeches to the masses via the new invention of old timey radio. Sounds like a piece of cake. But of course there’s a problem. Bertie has a severe speech impediment that causes him to stammer uncontrollably. Naturally this makes the public speaking end of his royal position rather difficult. As his father’s health wanes and his newly kinged brother starts making some uncouth decision that might leave Bertie on the throne soon, he enlists the help of a controversial lower class speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Drama ensues.
Now, first of all let’s take a look at the acting. Colin Firth, who is one of those actors who walks into a movie and sets about quietly chewing up scenery and crapping out acting gold, is delightful here as Bertie. And I don’t use the word “delightful” often. I loved watching him every second he was on screen, even the superbly awkward sequences of prolonged radio silence during his stammering sessions. And yet somehow, even Firth gets upstaged by the actor that had better win best supporting male, lest I march on Hollywood and burn it to the ground. This is Geoffrey Rush’s Logue, who is as eccentric as he is ballsy and as smart as he is playful. He gets some of the best moments, and his scenes with Firth are just damned tasty. Their interactions are a feast for the eyes and ears; a demonstration of pure unadulterated talent. Also, sweet European accents are always a plus.
The supporting players, which are made up of half the cast of the Harry Potter films it seems, round out the film well. We’ve got Helena Bonham Carter as Bertie’s wife and she’s as charming as she ever is, even though I always find her and her crazy eyebrows a bit unnerving. Guy Pierce plays Bertie’s brother Edward rather nicely, and Michael Gambon is menacing and then later quite sad as the ailing King George V.
Cinematography is superb and the set and costume design should not go unrecognized. This film is a classic example of not only what the Academy is going to eat up, but of how to make a damned good historical drama.
I have no choice but to give it 5 stammering kings out of 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment