FILM REVIEW: The King's Speech

9 out of 10 

Nothing like a bit of sing song to fix a bit of stammer... 

It's a simple thing for most of us, to put words together in a sentence.  For actors delivery and diction is their years in training, their livelihood.  What makes Colin Firth's performance in this film so unique, is his success in doing the exact opposite in playing the stuttering King 'Bertie' George VI in The King's Speech.  You immediately believe in his situation and that it is helpless, (so convincing is the portrayal), which sets the story up perfectly for Geoffrey Rush (as the Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue) to remedy the situation with his strange and insightful methods.  Their relationship as doctor/patient, king/subject and as equals is the emotional driver of the film and the element most interesting, as the barriers and bonds that form and break are intertwined into the root of the condition's treatment.  They necessitate each other's goals which is at the heart of what keeps it alive.

Also enjoyed the cameos by Timothy Spall, Michael Gambon and Guy Pearce, with Helena Bonham Carter doing an endearing Queen Mum.

This film will be a hard Oscar Winner to beat.  Firth will get his without a doubt, but Best Picture will be a fight between itself and A Social Network.  Almost too close to call, so I won't just yet but it is guaranteed to win a tonne of Baftas this Sunday.

PS.  Have changed my rating methods for films.  Found that I was giving 5 stars to everything which was a bit boring.  Have introduced a new system, (so complex it can't be explained or even imagined (don't even try)) but will represented by a rating rounded to 2 decimal points.  That's how precise it is.  Will update the other reviews too