Review of The King's Speech (2010) by Immanuel C — 29 Aug 2017

The first time I watched this movie I was watching it on my laptop alone, sitting in my room at home. The second time I watched it was with my mom, and the third time I watched it I watched with both of my parents on a proper television screen. You know a movie's special when you keep getting drawn back to it and when the movie keeps getting better with each subsequent viewing. Oddly enough, people can't seem to stop griping that The King's Speech won Best Picture.

If I have to spell it out, there are five major Academy Awards handed out each year: (1) Best Picture; (2) Best Director; (3) Best Actor; (4) Best Actress; and (5) either Best Original or Adapted Screenplay. The King's Speech won 4 of those awards, which in itself is no easy feat. Almost nobody would complain at The King's Speech having won Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay. Firth's and Rush's performances were sublime, and Helena Bonham Carter was a strong supporting actress. Given that this film arguably deserved to win 3 of the five major Academy Awards hands down, it just makes sense to me that it also deserved to win Best Picture.

Why all the complaints then? Most critics of this movie will say because The King's Speech is "Oscar bait," but I don't buy that reasoning. Arguably, every good movie is, in some sense, an Oscar bait, as every good director will try to find new ways to make creative shots and build a storyline that will ultimately be successful. By this standard, the movies There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men are also Oscar baits, but hardly anyone complains about them. It seems ridiculous to me to criticize a movie because it was done well. At its core, the work of a director is to be a visual storyteller; accolades like the Academy Awards are simply given to those who succeed at it.

I have my own reservations for The King's Speech. First, the scene where Logue and Bertie start swearing almost uncontrollably seems a bit out of place, as if it was inserted into the movie just for comedic purposes. Second, the scenes where Bertie tells Logue about his hard childhood and where Logue's wife walks into the apartment when the royal family is there seem like cliché feel-good moments. Still, these are merely minor detractions from what I consider to be an otherwise strong film. I've always loved the speech scene with Beethoven's music playing in the background (I adore the whole soundtrack), and, for the most part, I also actually like the cinematography. In whole, the storytelling is effective and is supported by a great cast who gave it their all. Hate me for it, but I can see why The King's Speech won Best Picture.