Jeremy Sexton

The King’s Speech was just okay

Before I made my Top 10 of 2010, there were a couple films I wanted to see first, as I thought they might make the rankings. One of them was The King’s Speech, which I saw today. This film is getting the Oscar buzz like a short haircut in a trashcan and there are definitely elements of it that are magnificent.

It’s a period piece and they nail the details and put you convincingly into that time period. The photography is fantastic, every shot is beautifully done. The performances from Geoffrey Rush, Collin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter are all tremendous. The script is great. The direction is very solid.

You’re probably now wondering why this post is titled the way it is.

The film is about the Duke of York and his stuttering problems. The problem with the film is the story it tells. So there’s a guy who’s rich and famous because he was lucky enough to be born to a specific set of parents. He has but one job to do and that is speak publicly on occasion. He is incompetent at this job.

I’m sorry, but I can’t get on board rooting for this guy. He is not sympathetic in any way, shape or form. Am I supposed to feel sorry for him because he stutters? Boo hoo. This is taking place during the Great Depression, I’m sure everyone starving would trade situations with him in a heartbeat.

Maybe they’re trying to invoke this reaction from the audience so that you then think about how minor your problems are compared to others around you. There is nothing in the film, however, to warrant such a reading. That is, unless they’re playing it even straighter than Herzog and Cage did for Bad Lieutenant.

At the end of the day, The King’s Speech reminds me much of last year’s The Road. It’s beautiful, it’s incredibly well acted and well written and as a piece of art it stands above the rest.

Just don’t ask me to watch either of them ever again.