The King is lost for words... but Colin Firth hopefully won't be when he wins the Best Actor Oscar next month (that he should have received last year for A SINGLE MAN) and can finally lay the ghost of Mr Darcy to rest.
THE KING'S SPEECH is the current frontrunner for the upcoming awards season (and also looks like it will be The Belmont's biggest moneyspinner since MAMMA MIA).
Why? Is it a better film than THE SOCIAL NETWORK? Not by a long shot. Is it more Oscar friendly? Absolutely!
Here is a British film that is based on a true events, has a historical setting, thespians get to play real people and Firth gets to play a real life person with a disability/affliction (double win) and there are no mentions of Facebook anywhere.
But is it any good? After all, Oscar doesn't always get it right. While it has terrific performances, lovely production design, a nice script and all that, it does suffer from a problem that affected the last great British monarch drama, THE QUEEN. It does have the feeling that if it didn't have such a great cast, you could easily have watched this on BBC1 at 9.00 on a Sunday evening in the comfort of your own living room.
A British film made by-the-numbers to tick as many boxes as possible to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Congratulations, you succeeded, but I wish that you hadn't played it so safe.3 stars
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