I thought it was quite good, sort of Sunday evening costume drama.
A Single Man was much better.
Who the hell cast Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill? His ticks and cheek puffing was ludicrous and very distracting, his eyebrows could have swept the floor.
Helena Bonham Carter did her usual brittle clipped performance, surely there are loads of fine English actresses that could have done a better job.
Colin Firth was great as was Geoffrey Rush.

It took 30 years to bring this enthralling Royal drama to the screen, but the end product is undoubtably a masterpiece. I would call this the film of the century. A biting deeply moving tale of a man who finds his voice. The superb acting opens up a magnificent array of the best in British cinema all the stars gave award-worthy performances, but the performance that adds to the majestic effect of this film lies with it's lead role in Colin Firth. Firth has never been better in a portrayal of King George VI that should be up there with the very best performances in cinema history. Firth captures everything perfectly including then feeble King's stammer which makes up the fabulous inspirational storyline that tells of how George VI overcame his deeply depressing condition and led Britain into War as great speaker With the help of the eccentric unorthodox speech therapist Lionel Logue. Firth conveys true emotion and real power in his role while Geoffrey Rush is equally unmissable in his spectacular portrayal of Logue and Helena Bonham-Carter adds real sparkle as the Queen Mother. A poignant gripping political drama with a fantastic climax that draws the whole movie, that is worthy of being amongst the best films ever made, to a dazzling finish as George finally speaks the nation. An extraordinary masterpiece which combines a marvellous picture experience with some of the finest acting we've ever seen., An irresistible piece of British cinema.

Worth every star available for the pace, acting, script, humour and attention to detail re historical context. - Plus the music............Thoroughly enjoyable: worth seeing again!

Worth every star available for the pace, acting, script, humour and attention to detail re historical context. - Plus the music............Thoroughly enjoyable: worth seeing again!

Worth every star available for the pace, acting, script, humour and attention to detail re historical context. - Plus the music............Thoroughly enjoyable: worth seeing again!

This is good movie, but a great movie? I thought A Single Man was much better. I suppose it may depend on whether you are comfortable with a movie that invites you to have sympathy for members of the royal family - I am not particularly interested in the pampered lives of the royals, I'm afraid. Colin Firth and Helena Bonham-Carter in particular do deliver fine performances, but in the end I just didn't care that much - more like watching a good documentary than a drama with engaging characters, except for Geoffrey Rush's character, again a fine performance, and the real hero of the movie. In fact, the movie could be seen as a plea for republicanism - a plea to end this nonsensical system where a rather bland, cold and uninspiring family continue to hold prerogative powers simply by an accident of birth.

It is just a wonderfully heartwarming story which happens to be based on truth even if one can only summise the events privately which accompanied them. The fact that Logue (speech 'therapist') kept detailed notes of his sessions, allows us a glimpse of the subject matter at first hand.
The acting is first rate throughout and although the subject matter seems on paper to be rather dry, this film gives you a real sense of the despair George vi felt when the weight of responsibility fell to him. Having watched this and knowing a little of the history around it, I can only say thank goodness Edward viii abdicated.
I came away with a real sense of the stuffiness of doing one's duty and how stifling the Royal Family can be. It made me think of our present monarch and family in a new light and I also had a feeling of fate that brought George and Lionel together at the moment when they both needed each other the most. In all our lives there are often people to whom we are indebted for just sharing our journey with us. The King had the guts to go along with the unconventionality and Logue had the guts to stick to his guns and do what he knew.
Can't wait to see it again.

Five stars, no question!

Five stars, no question!

I was lucky to catch the king's speech in Toronto at tiff and was blown away by the acting, directing and writing. It's a wonderful film that deserves all the hype it's getting!