Is the King's Speech worth listening too?

Well it's that time again where Oscar contenders hit the cinema screens. Where studios pack all their worthy films onto the audience to decide if all the hype is worth it. In the coming weeks we will be bombarded with festival favourites and movies which you will likely hear read out come this award season. One new film is generating a huge amount of interest and receiving rave reviews. I have just come from a screening of "The King's Speech" and I must say I have a feeling that this film will be receiving some rewards. Colin Firth is an actor I have never really loved. Yes, I thought he played the perfect uptight Mark Darcy to Renee' Zellwegger's Bridget Jones, but that part would not have been hard to play. But last year the man surprised me with his role in Tom Ford's, "A Single Man" playing a professor who feels his life is not worth living for very much longer after his male lover is tragically killed. It was the first time I stood up and took notice of this exceptional actor. And with the King's Speech he could not have done a better job. But more on that later. Let me begin by giving you the rundown.

The film follows the Duke of England "Bertie" (Colin Firth) and his ascension to the throne for which he will soon be King after his father tragically dies. Although he is reluctant to assume power and feels unfit to take on the position due to suffering from a terrible speech stammer. His wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) unknowing to her husband, seeks out a treatment for her husband's condition and calls upon an unorthodox Australian Speech Therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). What starts off as a love/hate relationship soon develops into a trust between the man who will soon lead his country strong and willing into war thanks to the help of this gifted therapist.

What can I say? The acting is the absolute essential ingredient to making this film work. All three leads are absolutely brilliant. I have never thought Colin Firth after such light rom-com work could bring such pain/suffering and humour to such a dramatic role. The man can act and this movie proves it. Geoffrey Rush I can never say anything bad about him. The man is talented and could play this role with his eyes closed. That's a good thing. He makes Lionel a gentle, patient and often comedic character who does not see the future King, but sees a man wanting with so much gusto to speak and prove he does have a voice. These two actors  play off each other perfectly and their chemistry is amazing. If this hadn't of worked, there would have been no point continuing with the film. What kept me wanting to watch the film was the interaction between these two. And lastly, I am not going to forget Helena Bonham Carter. This actress deserves praise. She is talented and extremely good at what she does. She stands out in any role, and as the future Queen of England wanting her husband to overcome and rule the nation, she brings such energy and presence to the role. The filmmakers could have easily let her fit into the background, but in my opinion this is a three lead role and Helena shows us why you can not put her in a corner. Come Oscar time I would not be surprised to see nominations for all three.

The only thing that bugged me about this movie was the length and some scenes kinda dragged. I mean it was a character driven piece, but when I was not seeing the interaction between Lional and George I could not really care. I mean, yes this is a period piece and it was probably just me who thought this, but the history part although essential to the film, dragged the whole film down. If the three leads were not on screen I really couldn't care less what was happening. I know, I know, this is probably stupid of me to say as this is a period piece, but I think the three leads were just so dynamic I craved them on screen.

All in all, I can see why this is receiving a heap of awards and praise. It is essentially a character driven piece with all three leads standing out. Will it win Best Picture? Well, I haven't seen all the contenders yet, but to me I have to say so far, no. As for the acting nods, I definitely would like to see all three go home with the golden man. The acting is what makes this film, and all three prove with strong presence on screen and engaging performances that a movie like this can work. The King's Speech 7.5 but am leaning more towards 8.