Review: The King's Speech (2010)

Everything I heard about this film made me expect it would be outstanding. Now I've watched it, and it's left me disappointed.

That's one of the worst title-cards I've ever seen. The writing is so tiny you practically need a magnifying glass to see it!

The King's Speech is a 2010 film based on real events. It depicts the future King George VI's struggles with a speech impediment, and his attempts to overcome it.

I recognised several actors:

Colin Firth (Darcy in Pride and Prejudice 1995) as Prince Albert/King George VI

Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange in Harry Potter) as Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother)

Geoffrey Rush (Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean) as Lionel Logue

Jennifer Ehle (Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice 1995) as Myrtle Logue

Timothy Spall (Mr. Venus in Our Mutual Friend 1998) as Winston Churchill

Derek Jacobi (the King in Cinderella 2015) as the Archbishop

Michael Gambon (Squire Hamley in Wives and Daughters) as King George V

The opening scene left me scratching my head. As if the underwhelming title-card wasn't enough, there's some weirdo gargling onscreen. Before I could figure out what was happening the film had already moved on to Bertie's attempt at giving a speech. Poor guy 😢 Speaking in public is one of my worst nightmares, and I don't even have a speech impediment. I can only imagine how horrifying it is to someone with one.

Elizabeth (who I always think of as the Queen Mother even though she isn't in the film) goes to Lionel Logue, a speech therapist who might be able to help Bertie. My favourite parts of the film were the Logues' reactions to realising who Lionel's patient is. Especially the scene where Mrs. Logue walks in and sees the queen in her house 😆

Like The Crown, which could almost be seen as a follow-on to this film, the main problem is the characters. There are exactly four truly likable characters: Bertie, Elizabeth, and their daughters. (Even then I have reservations about liking Margaret. She's tolerable only because she's a child and not the selfish brat she became.) Logue means well, but his methods are frankly bizarre. Edward and Wallis are so revolting that I felt like yelling at the screen every time they appeared 😠 And everyone else is either a jerk or just there in the background.

On the subject of Logue's bizarre methods, the constant swearing is extremely off-putting 😒 When I watch a film I like to actually watch it. Not skip every few minutes.

This film is best described as "average but not great". I liked some parts of it and hated others. But I'm not in a hurry to watch it again.

Is it available online?: I don't think so.

Rating: 5/10.