Film of the Year

As far as I understand these matters which is not particularly far, The King's Speech is likely to win a shelf-full of Oscars. It is certainly the Film of the Year for me and the missus, but since it's the only film we've actually been to see so far, and quite possibly the only one we're likely to see given our usual dismal track record on this front, this is, in itself, no great recommendation. Having said that, we both thoroughly enjoyed it and if it does win a load of silverware I wouldn't be terribly surprised. We went to see it last Saturday, by the way.

So what is there to like about it? Well, for one, it's a small film on a human scale, essentially about relationships. It's well acted, with solid performances from all, and a particularly good one from Colin Firth as the stammering monarch. He manages to play the man rather than the defect. It's a well-told, well-paced story that explores its themes intelligently with enough depth to say something useful about the virtues of behaving decently.

It also manages to steer clear of over-slavish appreciation of the various royals on show, though it gets a bit syrupy about the four at the centre. But then the point appears to be that they constituted a real family as Bertie sought to rectify the damage caused by his own dreadful upbringing.

I suppose it succeeds in depicting a chap, well a couple of them really, who managed to be what Mum and Auntie Norah and Auntie Bet would have termed true gentlemen. Not a bad title to aspire to. Better than 'king' any day.