Colin Firth delivers an astonishingly brilliant central performance in Tom Hooper’s follow-up to The Damned United, detailing King George VI’s struggle to overcome his stammer between the years of 1925 (when he is still Prince Albert, Duke Of York) and 1939, enlisting the help of Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian speech therapist with whom he (initially reluctantly) develops a close personal bond. There is much to dislike about the film, on paper, charting a rather unremarkable narrative course through what is admittedly a rather trifling affair (though speech impediments are perhaps a more serious issue for monarchs), and those of us familiar with 20th century history will be aware of how the matter is concluded well in advance of such happening on-screen. However, the subject matter is lent an unprecedented poignancy and intrigue by Colin Firth’s consummate, affecting performance as George VI, gripping one’s attention from beginning to end and cementing his status as a genuinely good actor in spite of all the terrible films he’s been in (I don’t think he has an addiction or mental illness to blame it on either, unfortunately for the critical community). This might well be contemporary, British “white telephone” cinema, which does not contest the nature of monarchy nor indeed occupy itself with broader political questions relating to the British Empire as it was at the time, but it is a stark and captivating study of a vulnerable yet courageous man, worthy of anyone’s time. If the promise of a “meaty” portrayal of Winston Churchill by Timothy Spall isn’t a good enough reason for you to see the film, the scene in which Firth stammers his way through a bedtime story at his daughters’ request might well be the most touching thing I’ve seen on-screen in 2010.
Words: Oisin Murphy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAm7gRXFiRo