The movie starts with a very painful introduction of Prince Albert, Duke of York (Colin Firth) giving (or should I say trying to give) a speech. The Duke of York has one little problem. He stammers, which is unacceptable to a member of the royal family. Especially being in the radio days. He has sought out countless of doctors to try and help him with the problem but nothing seems to work. He refuses to see any more.
His wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), gets recommended to Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) and although his techniques are a bit odd, she decides it's worth a try. It takes awhile but she convinces Albert, affectionately called Bertie, to go and see this new doctor. Logue is nothing like his other doctors. He treats him as if he were a common man instead of royalty and calls him Bertie. Bertie is not use to this kind of treatment and after being forced to record himself quoting Shakespeare he storms off. It's only later after his father, King George V (Michael Gambon) explains to him the importance of radio broadcast that he decides to listen to the recording of himself. To his surprise, he finds himself not stuttering. He decides to give Logue another chance on one condition. They keep things professional and don't talk about his personal life.
They go through a number of different exercises to relax his muscles and stregthen his diaphragm. It's only after his father dies and his brother David (Guy Pearce) will be named King that Bertie starts to open up. He talks about his childhood, his fears, and the fact that he seems to stammer when talking to David more than anyone else. When Logue brings up the idea of Bertie one day becoming King, he yells at him for committing treason and then once again leaves Logue services behind. But once again goes back after his brother denounces the throne in order to marry a twice divorce (which was against the rules). Albert then becomes King George VI and even when it is revealed that Logue is not a true doctor, King George VI realizes that he is the only one who can help him. Soon after, England declares war on Germany and King George VI has to make one of the most important speeches in his life.
The film is full of ups and downs. At times you laugh along with the characters (or maybe just laugh at how ridiculous some of the exercises are -- or even the fact that a King is saying f*ck over and over again). Other times you realize that although he is part of a royal family, he is still human and has fears and weaknesses. You start to cheer him on as he gets ready for his big speech and hope to God he makes it through without stammering too badly. The acting is great (it's refreshing to see Helena Bonham Carter act like a real human being for once). The framing of the shots was probably difficult to plan out (seriously how can you show two men talking in interesting ways) but they did a good job utilizing the space and set design and different lenses to help make that uncomfortable feeling when giving speeches. Overall, a pretty enjoyable film. Extremely different then the last couple films I have watched.
Rating: ****
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