Formerly "A Movie A Day" :/

Saturday, February 26, 2011

The King's Speech - 2010 - Dir. Hooper

Ahh... The big Oscar winner this year. I was a little surprised beforehand that it managed to do so well. It's a pretty quiet and unassuming movie. I might say that nothing really stands out too strongly about the movie. Everyone does a REALLY good job and the film works well. It manages to sell George VI's personal struggle. I got behind him without feeling like it was trivializing the actually horrid event that was going on. You know... WWII. We could have easily been watching a sad, privileged white man crying about responsibility but we never really get there. George's issue of unworthiness consistently humbles him to us. Especially since the movie starts out with a public humiliation. The script is subtle enough and doesn't give in to cheap theatrics. There's no ridiculous moment where George realizes the singular moment that caused his stutter. We go into his past of course, but it's is never simplified. Firth and Rush are a lot of fun to watch and have great chemistry. They both have characters that could have bordered on unlikable but never manage to cross that line. So, it's a really strong movie, refreshing in it's simplicity but layered enough to warrant at least a second viewing (which I imagine I will not have). I understand why it won the Oscar, but at the same time. It doesn't stand out very strongly. By no means, do I feel like I would go around saying it's a must-see, but you know... I'm not gonna bad mouth it obviously. :p

http://www.hollywoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Kings-Speech.jpg
I wish I could have fancy clothes and wear a top hat like that.

No comments:

Post a Comment