2010 - Rated R - 1 hr 58 min
Director: Tom Hooper
Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Michael Gambon, Derek Jacobi, Timothy Spall
Biopics like this always make me nervous there'll be excessive characterization of real people from history. (Well, it's kind of a biopic, though not really. The point remains, there are historic figures here, played by modern actors.) But since even the Queen herself has given a nod to this movie (which portrays her father, King George VI), I watched it with confidence.
This was my second viewing (just got it for Mother's Day!) and I loved it even more. It's so heavily focused on the relationship built between Bertie and Lionel that the speech problem takes a back seat. The goal is to help him overcome his difficulty with speech, it's true, but the friendship heals him much more than the therapy does! Carter, as always, is spot on as a young Queen Mum. Firth... well, he won the Oscar, so there you go. And Geoffrey Rush is also outstanding here. With three strong performances, I can see how this took Best Picture this year.
I love this movie, it had a great focus that most biopics lack and amazing performances. There's been a weird backlash against it in some circles since winning the Oscar but that seems to happen every year. Pompous bloggers snarling over how the Academy is always wrong. Sometimes they are, but not this time.
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