The King's Speech

Say you want to make a great film that will be around come Oscar season. Where do you find your story? Sports movies? Maybe. You've got "The Blind Side", and boxing movies are always good. Musicals? Ahhh...hit or miss. Maybe a good comedy or Western? Well, maybe not. Actually the answer is easy. Head straight for the British Royal Family.
It's practically a yearly event, these glimpses into royal life. Sometimes three or four pop up. This year's entry into the field deserves the pomp and ceremony it received in the run-up to the season.
"The King's Speech" looks at The Royal Family circa 1933. George V is King. His son David (soon to be Edward VI and then an ex-King) is a playboy with bad taste in women.
But it's his younger son, Bertie, that we're most concerned with here. He's the Duke of York and should be destined to live out his royal life as the man who wouldn't be King. All this is fine with him since being King means lots of public speaking which he hates. Why? Because he has a b-b-b-bad stuttering problem. A microphone is the enemy. Daddy the King is a bully (Which might be the root of the problem). King George's answer to the stammer is "Get over it". Not helpful.
Enter Lionel Logue as played by Geoffrey Rush, a rather unconventional speech pathologist. He has some ideas that are, well, unorthodox especially for a Prince.
The Duke of York, played by Colin Firth with a shaky arrogance, and spurred on by his rock solid royal wife (Helena Bonham Carter) engages Logue and the fireworks begin. It would be fun to watch a great actor in a great role, but to watch these two great actors spar with each other is a delight and amazement for any one lucky enough to buy a ticket. Firth's desperation and Rush's jocular insistence at familiarity provides the best cinematic moments of the year. They are a wonder to see. And Helena Bonham Carter, who most recently showed us her loony side in the Potter franchise and her husband's (Tim Burton) off-beat work, reminds us that she has kick-ass classical training as the Queen Mother. When it becomes clear that older brother would rather get laid than be King, the stakes get raised and things really heat up. (Part of the fun here is that the King and his American lover are not portrayed with any of that "romance of the century" crap. It's more like the royal party boy and the slut)
Seldom do films fire on all cylinders but this one does, the look of the film is dazzling, the acting impeccable, the story a delight. Films like this take home gold statues in bunches. This one just might. Only two films have a shot at the big prize, "The King's Speech" and "The Social Network". Man, that is one tough call.