Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
Director
Tom Hooper
Cast
Colin Firth,
Geoffrey Rush,
Helena Bonham Carter,
Guy Pearce
Genre
Drama,
History
England, 1936. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stutter and considered unfit to be king, Bertie seeks out the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Together they must resurrect George's voice, so that he can confidently lead England through perilous times.
This movie is a poignant look at family, duty, and the pressure of presentability. Even though it revolves around British royalty, much of the content is relatable to anyone who has ever struggled with public perception or family. In the end, this is a movie about a man and the family that has ruled is life ever since he was born.
San Francisco Chronicle by Amy Biancolli
The King's Speech is a warm, wise film - the best period movie of the year and one of the year's best movies.
NPR by Bob Mondello
It's the relationship between the two men that makes the film work: Geoffrey Rush's teacher cracking the quip, and Colin Firth so persuasive as the panicky king that by the time he gets to his crucial speech about going to war, you'll be panicking right along with him.
USA Today by Claudia Puig
Let's say it without equivocation: Colin Firth deserves an Oscar for his lead role in The King's Speech as the stammering King George VI.
Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern
No screen portrait of a king has ever been more stirring-heartbreaking at first, then stirring. That's partly due to the screenplay, which contains two of the best-written roles in recent memory, and to Mr. Hooper's superb direction.
Boxoffice Magazine by Pete Hammond
The King's Speech is a magnificent movie treat, one of the very best pictures of the year.
Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer
A remarkable movie about a remarkable friendship. It honors the audience's intelligence, which makes it a double rarity.
Empire by Ian Nathan
Think the blazing joys of "Chariots Of Fire" where the race is to the end of a sentence. Can it be that the British are coming?
New York Daily News by Joe Neumaier
Despite being about a royal family at a critical moment in history, The King's Speech doesn't shout about its many strengths. Rather, it urges you to lean in close, where its intelligence and heart come through loud and clear.
Observer by Rex Reed
As the actor of the year in the film of the year, I can't think of enough adjectives to praise Firth properly. The King's Speech has left me speechless.
New York Post by Lou Lumenick
Old-school filmmaking at its best.
Salon by Andrew O'Hehir
It's a warm, richly funny and highly enjoyable human story that takes an intriguing sideways glance at a crucial period in 20th-century history.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Rick Groen
Yes, The King's Speech is a lively burst of populist rhetoric, superbly performed and guaranteed to please even discriminating crowds.
The New Yorker by Anthony Lane
The barbs of wit, delivered throughout, are like the retractable daggers used in stage productions of "Macbeth" or "Julius Caesar": they gleam enticingly, they plunge home to the hilt, but they leave no trace of a wound.
The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt
It perhaps started with "The Queen," continued with "Young Victoria" and now achieves the most intimate glimpse inside the royal camp to date with The King's Speech.
New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein
It's a prizewinning combination, terribly English and totally Hollywood, and Firth is, once more, uncanny: He evokes, in mid-stammer, existential dread.
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
The gift of The King's Speech is that it allows us to look on as a pair of masterful actors re-create a monumental test of wills.
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
That film does have its attractions, notably in its two solid leads and standout support from Mr. Pearce.
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