Article by Cameron Spink

It seems necessary that a leader needs to have a good and strong voice to rally his people, yet, for King George VI (played by Colin Firth) he had, what seemed, an incurable stammer. However, this movie starts before Albert, Duke of York, becomes king. He is second in line to the throne, behind his older brother David (English-accented Guy Pearce). So, for the most part, "Bertie" avoided the limelight after he botched a speech at the 1925 Empire Exhibition.

Bertie's wife, Elizabeth (Helen Bontham Carter), encourages him to go to speech therapists, even though, it is suggested that he has received all types of help to no avail. In a last ditch attempt Elizabeth ends up in working class London, asking Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian out-of-work actor and sometimes speech defects specialist, who comes highly recommended despite his unorthodox methods.

Bertie is, at first, unsold on Lionel's abilities to cure his stammer. However, when he takes home a recording of him reading Hamlet's soliloquy whilst being drowned out by headphones music he realises that Lionel is perhaps the only one who can help him. So begins a bizarre friendship between two men from different worlds as they attempt to fix Bertie's speech impediment as it becomes more and more likely that his brother, David, will abdicate the throne.

The cast shine in this movie. Colin Firth plays a very convincing defective king. It is certainly his most compelling performance to date and his reluctance and fear to speak publicly is something that all viewers can identify with. Geoffrey Rush is the show-stopper. He just blossoms into the "peculiar" role of Lionel. Other cast mentioning include Guy Pearce, Helen Botham Carter, Michael Gambon and Timothy Spall who all play their roles very competently.

While there is this contrast between Albert and Lionel, perhaps the greatest disparity is between Albert and his elder brother David. While Albert has defects that would make it hard for him to rule as a monarch David seems to have all the skills required. Unfortunately David is so self-involved that he feels no sense that his family, nor his country need him and prefers to subject the British nation to a bleak future with an unsettled monarch than take the responsibility that was his birthright. So Albert is forced to become king and do what he most fears doing. However, with a great deal of bravery, he strives to work on his defects (which include a temper) in order to be a better king.

The storyline benefits from its simplicity. This allows great character development to take place, particularly the interactivity between Lionel and Albert. It is a relationship where a king must depend upon a common man from outback Australia. However, Albert also relies upon the strength of his wife who, through-out his stammers and tempers stands by him and is his rock. It is a great indication of a strong marriage, where Elizabeth is ever patient and ever vigilant even though she really did not want to marry into royalty.

The King's Speech is a fun movie that, despite being firmly inserted into the drama category, is pleasurable viewing. It has a lot of tongue-in-cheek comedy and one can even be forgiven for smiling when the king practices speaking by swearing his head off. This scene, however, makes this movie inappropriate for children. Still this is a successful portrayal of a king who must overcome great adversity to be what his country needs him to be. The moral of the story: even a king cannot do it himself.

4/5 stars