Plot summary (from the studio): After the death of his father King George V (Michael Gambon) and the scandalous abdication of King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), Bertie (Colin Firth) who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his life, is suddenly crowned King George VI of England. With his country on the brink of war and in desperate need of a leader, his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), the future Queen Mother, arranges for her husband to see an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). After a rough start, the two delve into an unorthodox course of treatment and eventually form an unbreakable bond. With the support of Logue, his family, his government and Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall), the King will overcome his stammer and deliver a radio-address that inspires his people and unites them in battle.
Based on the true story of King George VI, THE KING’S SPEECH follows the Royal Monarch’s quest to find his voice.
Warning: Spoilers below!
Liked:
- Colin Firth was magnificent in this film. The Best Actor Oscar was certainly well-deserved.
- Geoffrey Rush was also very good, and I have to admit that I actually liked Helena Bonham Carter (usually my LEAST favorite actress) here. I guess she’s tolerable when she’s playing “normal” characters instead of that nutty crap her husband puts out.
- Bertie was a complex character. On the one hand, I wanted to sympathize with him because of his impediment. But on the other, he treated Lionel so badly most of the time that I sort of wanted him to fail, too. But by the time the big speech rolled around at the end, I was firmly on his side.
- I loved that the real Lionel and George VI remained lifelong friends. When people go through that kind of challenge together, I guess the experience serves to bind them forever.
Disliked:
- Guy Pearce was supposed to be Colin Firth’s older brother??? That didn’t even look close to being plausible in the film. Firth is seven years older than Pearce in real life, but looked at least a decade older here.
- I know this movie was about Bertie rather than David, but I wish the filmmakers had done a bit more to show why David would abdicate the throne for Wallis. In her one brief scene, she didn’t seem to be all that.
- I wanted to see more scenes of Lionel and Bertie together. Those were the ones that worked best, but there weren’t nearly enough of them.
Rating:
Just from reading the synopsis, I expected The King’s Speech to be rather dull. But it was very oddly compelling — most likely due to the fine performances turned in by the three main actors. Despite the decided lack of action, I was immediately drawn into this world and Bertie’s problems and couldn’t wait to see what happened next. I give this film 5 stars out of 5.
Modern Family 3×24 — “Baby on Board”: This was kind of a strange finale. First, I didn’t see the Gloria pregnancy twist coming at all, but I like it and think it can bring some much needed energy and change to the Pritchett-Delgado storylines. 
Plot summary (from the studio): The 3-D action-thriller, from executive producer James Cameron, follows a team of underwater cave divers on a treacherous expedition to the largest, most beautiful and least accessible cave system on earth. When a tropical storm forces them deep into the caverns, they must fight raging water, deadly terrain, and creeping panic as they search for an unknown escape route to the sea.
NCIS 9×24– “Till Death Do Us Part”: This episode was mostly boring until the bomb plot was revealed in the final few minutes. I liked seeing Scott Wolf go out as a good guy (Did he actually die? He was hovering right over the bomb with ZERO chance of escaping, but the rule in TV is “no body, no death”, so…) because he’ll always be Bailey Salinger to me and CAN’T be a baddie. I also liked that Toby Ziegler got away for the time being, since NCIS catches their enemies way too quickly for the most part. And of course we had a couple of Tony and Ziva moments, such as their convo about marriage, her “Not without you!” (complete with arm grab), and the fact that they’re stuck in an elevator together. 
Cougar Town 3×13 — “It’ll All Work Out”: I could get behind Grayson and Andy as a team. Grayson definitely had a point there. Jules and Ellie are already a team, and those two will certainly steamroll Grayson and Andy at every turn if the men don’t get their acts together. But with no hand-holding, the relationship will have to have a different dynamic than Andy-Bobby!
Criminal Minds 7×23-7×24 — “Hit” and “Run”: I’ve decided that these will be my last Criminal Minds episodes ever. Once again the main plot was boring and something that the BAU had no business being involved in, so I barely paid attention until about 10 minutes to go. Normally, I wouldn’t like the “happy happy” wedding ending, but in this case I don’t mind it. This will be my final image of these characters, and despite all the traumatic, destructive cases and situations they’ve been through, I like the idea of them being content for one night at least.
Plot summary (from the studio): In his highly acclaimed novel Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day) created a remarkable story of love, loss and hidden truths. In it he posed the fundamental question: What makes us human? Now director Mark Romanek (ONE HOUR PHOTO), writer Alex Garland and DNA Films bring Ishiguro’s hauntingly poignant and emotional story to the screen.