I loved The King's Speech! An excellent movie and well deserving of the Oscar for Best Picture! Thank goodness the motion picture industry changed the rating from "R" to "PG-13" because I really didn't want to miss this movie. And I'm glad I didn't!
Who knew a film focused on a deceased king who stuttered could make for such compelling drama? Here is this reluctant King who needs to rise to the challenge of leading his country against the forces of Hitler and the Nazi regime. This was a gargantuan task for anyone let alone someone who hated public speaking and had a speech impediment!
Making a historical movie is challenging since the audience knows what happened. But the film kept me engaged and interested despite the predictable outcome. I thought the movie did a fantastic job of giving a glimpse of the Royal family during the 1940's.
Colin Firth's acting abilities were phenomenal! What a class act! I loved the relationship between King George (aka Bertie) and the Queen Mum (Helena Bonham Carter). What an impressive and supportive wife Elizabeth was. And, of course, the relationship between Bertie and his speech therapist Lionel Logue was wonderful too.
There is a famous historical quote (it's not in the movie) when Queen Elizabeth was asked if she would send her daughters away for the duration of the war and she responded: "The children will not leave without me. I will not leave without the King. And the King will never leave." What a great woman (wife, mom, etc)!
The impact of the actual speech given by King George in 1939 was immense. It gave the British people hope. To see a movie like The King's Speech win Best Picture gives me hope in the film industry to bring us quality entertainment! Great show!
"The moral of this story is listen to your mother." - spoken by The Kings Speech director, Tom Hooper, as he accepted his Oscar and noted it was his mother who found the script for him.
