New Release: The King's Speech

The Duke of York would pause for minutes at a time.

I've been slow getting to my reviews of about 8 back-logged movies I've seen recently.  Finished my thesis instead, so I'm sure you'll forgive me.  However, I saw 3 of my top 10 movies last week, so I'd better get cracking.  The one I liked best was The King's Speech.  The story of King George VI of England (Colin Firth) both before and after he ascended the throne.  When his father, George V (Michael Gambon) was alive, George VI was known as "Bertie" and was only the second son and unlikely to be king.  His brother David, who becomes King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), is a well-groomed, well-spoken, well-educated playboy rich kid who thinks Herr Hitler might have the right idea (about what he doesn't care).  David also is in love with a twice married American woman, Wallace Simpson, whom he refuses to give up once he's king.  This part is a bit tricky for me, not coming from a country with either a Parliament, nor a monarchy, but I think Parliament can just give up and there won't be a government (some sort of no confidence).  Well, Parliament think David is a nincompoop and cannot possibly rule England and fight Hitler.  Thus, David abdicates and our dear Bertie gets to be King. 

Lionel shows HRH that he can be distracted from his stammer by music

This is the overarching history that is being put on screen.  However, the story is about a man and his voice.  Bertie had stammered since childhood.  He was teased about it by his siblings and even his father.  He tried all the therapies he could find, but nothing was working.  Now that he's grown, he has to take on some of the public appearances.  His wife (Helena Bonham Carter - who I would nominate for Best Supporting Actress), seeks out an unconventional speech therapist - Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush - head to head with Christan Bale for Supporting).  Lionel agrees to help "Mr. Johnson", and when he realizes it's the Duke of York, he's barely phased.  His techniques are a little more psychological than physiological and it's hard to reach those levels of a Royal.  Firth objects to the familiarity, but ultimately realizes his techniques and ideas work.  While a rough road, they eventually become friends. 
The performances and writing of this story raise it above the standard British historical drama.  The details about speech impediments as well as the etiquette about dealing with Royals adds a level of explanation that never reaches exposition but rather is revealed in the interactions between the characters and the practice Firth does of all his techniques.  An example is when Logue asks HRH whether he stutters when he talks to himself, or whether he can curse a blue streak without stammering.  Having the story within such a strong historical context of the lead-up to WWII makes all the implications of the Royal decisions even more understandable and important.  It might seem overly dramatic to say that the fate of the world was caught up in the romantic liaison of spoiled Prince, but this movie makes it clear that in fact it just might have been.  Watching Firth wrestle with everything he was raised to believe about himself and his place in the world fall to pieces when he becomes King and what that will actually mean is heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time.  The title, "The King's Speech" is a reference both to George VI's ability to speak as well as to the actual speech he gave on the eve of WWII to rally the support of his subject.  It gives me goosebumps just thinking about how hard it was for him and how important it turned out to be.   I loved this movie and everything about it.  I'm sure I'll figure out things that weren't great, but for now I'll leave it here.  5/5 stars/lambs

Death at a Funeral: Redux

Rachel over at Rachel's Reel Reviews has been using a technique in her posts lately that lets you know what she's really thinking.  In an homage (not stealing, homage, really) to her, I'm going to do the same for my review of a remake of an recently made British movie, now an American movie, Death at a Funeral.   Hopefully this will illustrate how similar the two really are.   Below is the exact review I wrote for the British version, with some edits.  A few extra actor names were added that I didn't bother with in the original.

A British farce that's centered around the death of a patriarch. The two sons have returned to bury their father. The elder, Daniel (Matthew Macfadyen) Aaron (Chris Rock), lives in the family home with his fiancee, and the other, Robert Ryan (Martin Lawrence), is a successful author living in New York. Daniel Aaron is distraught and trying to figure out how to eulogize his father, while everyone arriving is disappointed that Robert Ryan won't be doing the eulogy. Their cousins arrive, one (Tracy Morgan) complainingly bringing Uncle Alfie Russell (Danny Glover) in his wheelchair, and the other (Zoe Saldana) bringing her fiancee (Alan Tudyk James Marsden) to introduce to her father. They stop to pick up her drug-dealing brother (Kris Marshall Columbus Short - from The Losers) on the way, and a mix-up in drug bottles occurs. Ultimately, Alan Tudyk James Marsden ends up really high on ecstasy, convinces people the coffin is moving, and then ends up naked on the roof. Peter Dinklage (yes, he's in both) shows up to blackmail the brothers with photos of him and their father in compromising positions. They fight with Dinklage, who is hysterical fighting for his rights to the inheritance and he ends up in the coffin. I won't give away the rest, and believe me there's a lot more and it's a constant chase between scenes to figure out who lives, who dies, and who gets away with what. It's terrific, and I highly recommend checking it out. 4 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars/lambs

The only thing I would add is that this story so completely works when translated to an African-American cast, taking place in the US, speaks to the universal nature of the story.  All families have problems, and fight, but ultimately drive each other crazy and will definitely help you hide the bodies.  Also, while I LOVE Alan Tudyk, I think James Marsden was the funniest thing in the new movie (In the photo, he's listening to the fern sing).  His portrayal of a guy high on a hallucinogen was hysterical.  His facial expressions and elasticity could rival Jim Carrey at his best.  Also, I was nervous that Tracy Morgan would just be the mumbling buffoon he plays on TV, but someone made him enunciate and it actually improved his acting immeasurably.  Good, but not great, though if you haven't see the original, it's so similar you'd probably give it the 4 I gave the other one.