Seen on January 18th, 2011The story of King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it. [imdb]
Nominated for 12 Oscars:
Best Picture (WINNER)
Best Director: Tom Hooper (WINNER)
Best Actor: Colin Firth (WINNER)
Best Supporting Actor: Geoffrey Rush
Best Supporting Actress: Helena Bonham Carter
Best Original Screenplay (WINNER)
Best Cinematography
Best Original Score
Best Editing
Best Art Direction
Best Costume Design
Best Sound Mixing
It has nothing to do with he fact that it won Best Picture: King's Speech is my least favorite film of the 10 nominees. I don't think it's a bad film and I'm not one of those haters... but Social Network, its obvious runner-up for the win, was a better film and while I'm not the biggest fan of TSN, it's good to call it like I see it. My biggest problem with The King's Speech is that it didn't really keep me interested throughout, and I needed a bit of a suspense - because it was so damn predictable, even to the last shot. It would've been more uplifting, had it had a less cheesier ending.
On the good side there's definitely the acting. Colin Firth gives a good, difficult performance, but Geoffrey Rush is best in show, bringing unexpected humanity, while Helena Bonham Carter makes the best of her character and I actually cared for these 2 more than for the king itself, a character which kind of bored me. The screenplay is fine, but nothing groundbreaking; the win for Best Director is ridiculous given the competition and I still found it hard to believe even though it was obvious to happen. Tom Hooper's directing style definitely has its good moments in creating scenes that work properly, but often enough it's too flat to be worthy of Oscar praise.
The film is easy to watch, nothing to hate, but I didn't get much excited either.
My rating for the film: 7/10. Not one of those winners to make film history, but definitely not one of the worst.
Posts
i think it's a teriffic film, a few flaws, but there very few: It's intelligent, it's entertaining, and it has a good message, maybe not as wrenching or meaningful as some messages are, but it's a great movie to me.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Helena & Geoffrey more than it seems, but the story & direction never reached a very high point to me.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much am in complete agreement with your review. The film is not the worst winner ever, but the weakest of the nominees for sure. I grew to resent it because I loved so many others so much more (Social Network, Black Swan, True Grit, The Fighter in particular).
ReplyDeleteI think it was a great movie. Nothing special, but entertaining. When I first saw it, I was a bit drunk so I couldn't pay attention really. It was much more fun for the second time and I really liked it.
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