The King's Speech (2010)
Being the Best Picture winner for films coming out in 2010 The King's Speech had big shoes to fill when it came to my expectations. Not that I think the Oscars actually reward the best film of the year with Best Picture but still does make that film stand out and it is expected that there is something there that made it stand out enough to give is such a big award. Let's just get it out there, The King's Speech is not the best movie of 2010 or even close really, but I am not mad that it won Best Picture. It is a safe standard period piece with enough conflict that I see why it made audiences feel good and why they got behind it enough for it to win Best Picture.
As I mentioned most of this film does feel pretty standard for me but the one piece that really does stand out as something special would be the acting. Where I am sure there could be an interesting think piece written regarding Colin Firth's acting and casting in this film from a quality standpoint he is really good. Not only does he have to contend with a horrible stutter but he also has to walk a fine line of being a likable protagonist who we are supposed to root for while also being kinda an asshole. This is really hard to do and Colin Firth does a great job with this turning in what is probably the best performance of his entire career. Geoffrey Rush is also really good as his doctor and is great at standing in a likable opposition to Colin Firth. He has to stand up against the bad-tempered King with his own type of fire and flair and their chemistry is really solid and both end up pretty likable.
Unfortunately, I don't know if their friendship was built that well which probably is the biggest issue I have with the movie. A lot of this movie feels pretty basic and forgettable because of that. It's not that there is a single aspect of this movie that is bad but it all is just kinda there. The journey that King George goes on feels very standard and they take the friendship between him and his doctor to any new place or level. It is kinda rushed and never feels fleshed out enough to get the audience fully invested in these two men despite their chemistry being pretty good. Sure maybe this was more memorable of a story and plot in 2010 but even then I feel like this movie would have been empty to a point for me. Again there is nothing specifically wrong with this movie for me, it all is done to a high enough level that I had a perfectly fine time sitting through this movie. It just didn't do anything overly noticeable or memorable to bring it to another level. It all is just a set quality which is something that most films can't reach to be fair. The acting is really the only noteworthy thing in this movie but even that isn't overly memorable. This is a movie that I can't get mad at for doing good come awards season but it wouldn't be on my personal ballet.