A crowd pleaser, The King's Speech, directed by Tom Hooper to a script by David Seidler, delivers on its promise. The plot and outcome are simple and expected, thus the film’s charm is in its execution. What makes this period piece work, are the sharp, witty, and mostly funny scenes between Colin Firth, playing King George VI, and Geoffrey Rush, as his speech therapist Lionel Logue, who helped the King overcome a difficult stammer. Aside from these scenes, that luckily take a good portion of the film, the other parts are somewhat dull, on occasion way too melodramatic, and completely shadowed. But Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth simply shine in their respective roles and are a pleasure to watch.
The film does not play heavily on the additional messages one can conclude from the story, aside from the comparison between the King’s private challenge and the challenge of his nation during WWII.
As the end titles rolled on the screen, handclaps were heard at the packed AMC theater where we watched the film; a rare occurrence at this main-stream theater.