MovieReviews
SCREEN PRESENTS W
hat’s that, San- ta? You have an early present for us this year? Ten
— 10?? — movies opening today? Wow, what a treat. With the mix of documentary,
family, drama and even a rom- com inWashington area theaters, there’s something for everyone on our list. For the history buff:How about
The King’s Speech? Based on King George VI and his efforts to cure a speech impediment, the film is already garnering Oscar buzz for star Colin Firth. See our reviewon this page. For the little one: Justin Tim-
berlake provides the voice of Boo Boo in Yogi Bear, a 3-D update of the classic TV cartoon. Review, Page 24. For the gamer: Tron: Legacy is probably the most eagerly antici- pated opening this week, at least for the growing cult of fans of the original 1982 video-game-in- spired adventure. Review, Page 23.
For the girlfriend: Take her to
How Do You Know, a romantic comedy-drama starring Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson and Reese Witherspoon. Review, Page 24. For the bookworm: Shake- speare, anyone? Acclaimed the- ater director Julie Taymor shakes the Bard up a bit by castingHelen Mirren in the traditionally male lead in The Tempest. Review, Page 26. Thanks, Santa, for thinking of
everyone on the list. You always know just what we want.
PLUS l The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector, Page 25. l Bhutto, Page 26. l The Fighter, Page 23. l Leaving, Page 27. l Night Catches Us, Page 25.
BY ANN HORNADAY “The King’s Speech” arrives in theaters
like a big, shiny Christmas present to mov- iegoers, a cinematic stocking stuffer sure to pleaseeventheScroogiestmultiplex-dwell- er. It’s the kind of absorbing, attractive, unfailingly tasteful enterprise that a critic canrecommendwithout caveat—unlike so many of this year’s equally well-made but edgier outings. “The Black Swan”? A tour de force no doubt, but watch out for those over-the-top scenes of gore and mayhem! “127 Hours”? Inspiring and great fun to watch — but you might want to close your eyes when the hero cuts off his arm. “The Fighter”? A knock-out, although scenes of crack addiction, prison and pulverizing boxing violencemay not be for everyone. “The King’s Speech”?Go! Enjoy! There’s nothing not to love about Tom
Hooper’s classy historical drama, which tells the story of how Britain’s KingGeorge VI (Colin Firth) overcame a debilitating stutter and went on later to lead the coun- try throughWorldWar II. Although Bertie, as he was known to his family, had no intention of assuming the throne, he found
LAURIE SPARHAM/WEINSTEIN CO. Colin Firth, withHelena Bonham Carter, gives KingGeorge VI a royal yet irresistibly vulnerable bearing in “The King’s Speech.” THEKING’SSPEECH That certain something: By George, Firth’s got it!
himself wearing the crownwhenhis broth- er, KingEdwardVIII (GuyPearce), abdicat- ed to marryWallis Simpson. Painfully shy, reticent to the point of paralysis, Bertie freezes up every time he approaches a microphone (the film opens in 1925, at a disastrousspeechbeforethousandsinLon- don’s Wembley Stadium). It’s a situation that Bertie’s wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bon- ham Carter), realizes just won’t do. She enlists the help of Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a speech therapist in London whose methods include encouraging his clients to sing, staredeepintochildhoodwoundsand swear like stevedores. That last bit led the prigs at theMotion
Picture Association ratings board to give “The King’s Speech” an R rating, but par- ents of teenagers need to know:There’s not only nothing objectionable about this sto- ry, there’s everythingwholesomeandedify- ing about it.Hewing to a course already set by such classics as “The Miracle Worker,” “My Fair Lady” and “Shine”—which, coin- cidentally, starred Rush as a troubled pia- nist on the verge of a comeback — “The King’s Speech” features familiar scenes of defeat, the student’s resistance, his ulti- mate surrender and final triumph. But its
themes resonate uncannily with life, from the impact of emerging technology (in this case radio) to the high stakes of political rhetoric. When Bertie and his children — one ofwhomis Queen Elizabeth II—listen to Hitler giving a speech, young Elizabeth asks him what the German chancellor is saying. “I don’t know,” Bertie replies wor- riedly. “But he seems to be saying it rather well.” Firth has carved out an accomplished
career making otherwise chilly and reces- sive characters deeply sympathetic.He did it last yearwith“ASingleMan,”andhedoes it again with the reluctant King George, managing to infuse him with an air of forbidding royal superiorityanddisarming tendernessattheverysametime.Howdoes Firth do this? Is it in his eyes, somehow remote and frightened? Is it his voice, plummy but also tentative, quietly begging for acceptance? Is it his physical carriage, stiff but also subtly expressive? It’s all of those things, of course. Firth has mastered what may be the most crucial ineffable element of acting: withholding everything from viewers save that tiniest, most crucial
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