December 27, 2010

Movie Review: The King's Speech

Who knew that Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson were such assholes? If this movie is to be believed, they were. Especially Edward who is portrayed as being very cruel to his brother, making fun of his stammering, even as an adult. I read about them when I was young and always thought it very romantic that he gave up the throne for her (stupid, but romantic) but who ever heard about "Bertie," the stammering king?

It's a very engaging story with wonderful performances by Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. Both could have easily overdone their roles but fortunately they didn't. Helena Bonham Carter doesn't have a huge part but when she's on screen she's amazing.
Five stars out of five for The King's Speech.
BTW, Eve Best and Guy Pearce are physically perfect as Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson.

2 comments:

Fair Claire said...

Coming from a long line of royalty myself, I always thought Prince Edward/King Edward VII/Duke of Windsor was a bit of a fop and irresponsible in the extreme.
I think you are talking about Helen Bonham Carter not Isabella R. as Her Royal Highness.

Samantha Hoffman said...

I stand corrected, Fair Princess Claire. It is indeed Helena Bonham Carter, and I corrected my post.