Remember Tropical Thunder and Robert Downey Jr.'s character's advice about how not to play a role?
Well, Colin Firth as George VI may not go "full retarded" but he does go full stammerer and in doing so creates an incredibly sympathetic depiction of a King uncomfortable with his new position in the world.
Equally up to the task are Geoffrey Rush, in an incredibly restrained performance, considering the way he has been "Aargh"ing himself through the Aught's as Barbosa in the Pirates movies, and Helena Bonham Carter as the long suffering wife. Her character actually holds down the movie in the first half hour, but then she disappears for stretches and when she comes back onscreen, I immediately noticed how much her absence harms the film.
If you have seen the therapist patient movies in the past that have done well at the Oscars--
or this clip from Ordinary People then you are familiar with what will happen and the struggles that the patient and therapists will experience. None the less, it still makes for an enjoyable and powerful bit of cinema.
The real question is this: is the film the best movie of the year? After leaving the theatre, I would have to say no. It's well done. It's well acted, but it's not the best and probably shouldn't deserve the Oscars that are going to come its way.
His performance is just devastating.
The real question is this: is the film the best movie of the year? After leaving the theatre, I would have to say no. It's well done. It's well acted, but it's not the best and probably shouldn't deserve the Oscars that are going to come its way.
No doubt, Firth will win for best actor, but if you really want to see an incredibly powerful performance--watch him in last year's A Single Man and really see what he can do.
His performance is just devastating.
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