THE KING'S SPEECH

In what could have easily turned into a disease-of-the-week story, The King's Speech is given warmth and humanity by the lovely performances of the top-notch cast.

Whenever I see another royal film come out, I always wonder, what does The Queen think of this? Did Queen Elizabeth II sit down in her private screening room at Buckingham Palace with sweaty-palmed (and probably stammering) Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush looking on nervously for her reaction? You'd have to wonder, as this film is about her parents, King George VI (Firth), or Bertie to his friends, and his wife, the future Queen Mother (Helena Bonham Carter, toning down the disheveled crazy that has been her staple of late). You'd also have to wonder if this film was officially approved, because Bertie and his wife Elizabeth come across as practically saints.

Though the film has some flashbacks to the 20s (where there is seemingly no attempt to make Colin Firth look younger than he does over a dozen years later) where a younger Bertie painfully stammers through a public speech at an event at Wembley. The audience looks at him respectfully, and then with discomfort as he literally can barely complete a sentence, much less a word. Is it OK to pity the Duke of York? With the advent of the radio, Bertie is told by his father that broadcast speeches now come with the territory. Basically the royal family, in the modern age, became celebrities that were expected to reach out to their people. Bertie is not pleased.

Having tried all sorts of methods to stop his stammering after some time, Bertie gives up in frustration. He may be the good son, compared to his flighty brother Edward who is dilly-dallying with an American divorcee, but his confidence is shot because he cannot overcome this problem. That is until his wife Elizabeth hooks him up with a quirky (and discreet) Australian speech therapist named Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush).

Now that I think about it, The King's Speech basically follows the tried-and-true formula of an underdog sports movie--and it is just as slight, and just as crowd-pleasing. At the beginning, poor Bertie is a complete failure, lacking the basic skills he needs to perform. In comes the inspirational coach with the unorthodox methods (including Lionel's brazen insistence on calling the future King "Bertie" despite it being just a family nickname). With Bertie's flaky brother threatening the reputation of the throne, especially after their father dies and Edward becomes a rather embarrassing and reluctant King, Bertie steadfastly and resolutely knows he must train and train for The Big Game. In this case, the Big Game is Bertie becoming King when his brother abdicates, with the game-winning touchdown (and the climax of the film) being his first Big Speech as King George VI.

Colin Firth makes a cuddly King. It is hard not to walk away from this film thinking that King George VI was Good Man--you want to give him a hug as he spits out stuttering profanities in frustration at his problem, but you also are never in doubt that he has the smarts and firm resolution to lead his country. He has a wonderful scene where Lionel gets Bertie to talk about some of his childhood humiliations that messed with his confidence. He just wanted to be loved! But then you realize that he wasn't just any old kid that was emotionally neglected and teased. Oh, yeah... he was a royal! Geoffrey Rush also plays off Firth nicely, and though he is quirky and a bit casual (you actually get nervous that he will overstep his bounds too far), you believe that the two men form a real friendship of trust and respect.

Oh! And alert fans of Colin Firth's fabulous version of Pride and Prejudice (1995) should keep their eyes peeled. Jennifer Ehle (yay!) plays Lionel Logue's wife, and yes, there is that oily Mr. Collins (David Bamber) showing up just long enough to mock Lionel's thespian abilities. It's mini-reunion! I'll bet Elizabeth Bennett never thought Darcy would one day be King!