The King’s Speech
Natalie Portman Teaches Acting
After seeing The King’s Speech today, I am confident enough to say that this film is the clear frontrunner in this year’s Oscar race.
The film deals with King George VI and his hiring of an unorthodox Australian speech therapist in order to treat his stuttering. I really thought that Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush had excellent chemistry and it was their scenes together that really made the dynamic of the film, which was both hilarious and dramatic.
Even though Firth and Rush are front and center, there are excellent performance from the whole cast, which includes the likes of Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, and Michael Gambon.
I should also make a note by saying that this is probably one of the films most undeserving of an R rating (in the U.S.). The rating was given solely for a (rather hilarious) scene, where King George in encouraged to curse as part of his therapy. There’s nothing vulgar at all about the scene and I don’t think there would’ve been riots if the MPAA gave the film a PG-13 (though you never know with Americans). For the record, the Ontario Film Review Board gave the film a PG rating, which says a lot about the differences between American and Canadian classification guidelines.
Anyways, I will conclude buy repeating that I’m sure that The King’s Speech will receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination (and might even win it too). I also wouldn’t be surprised if there are acting nominations for both Firth and Rush (in fact, they should create a new category for Best On-Screen Chemistry and give it to the both of them).
10/10
