Movie Review: THE KING'S SPEECH

photo © 2009 nicolas genin | more info (via: Wylio)First off, no, this is not a review for a movie about Martin Luther King, Jr. Very few people I know have heard of this film, and fewer still know what it's about. Let me set the record straight for my friends and random valued blog readers: The King's Speech is the true story of King George VI of Britain, chronicling not only his unconventional rise to his powerful position, but focusing more on his speech impediment and the methods taken to solve it. It sounds like one of the most boring, drab, and dry films ever. I can safely say it's not any of those things - it's one of the very best movies of the year.

Colin Firth (The King), Geoffrey Rush (The Speech Therapist), and Helena Bonham Carter (The Queen) all turn in Oscar caliber performances telling a very powerful story of overcoming obstacles both on a personal level and on a grand scale. The approach to this movie was very narrow - which was wise as this movie could have gone in too many directions. This movie is set at the time of World War II, during a controversial era in British politics, and at a pivotal moment in world history. Director Tom Hooper decides to showcase the biggest problem as the one the King is facing personally, his stuttering problem.

There are more laughs than I expected, more unpredictable turns in the story than I saw coming, and more good acting in one frame of this than during the entire Little Fockers mess. It's a movie you can take almost anyone to see, and I suggest you do. I would give it a 9 out of 10.

Family Take: There are about 40 swears keeping this movie from a "G" rating. And for once, I can say the majority of the profanity forwards the story and didn't bother me at all. I grew up in a very protective family, but I believe that after the age of 13 my parents would have been fine with me seeing this very mild "R" rated movie.

If You Like The King's Speech Try: The Queen starring an Oscar-winning Helen Mirren was a very well made movie about another British royal, but not nearly as entertaining as TKS.