The subject of white male platonic bonding is as far from today’s film trends as you can possibly get. Even with its shortcomings, then, the heart of the matter in Michael Grandage’s star-studded Genius goes refreshingly against the grain. Add to that the look in the life of American author Thomas Wolfe (whom many, I suspect, readily forget in lieu of the William Faulkner’s and Ernest Hemingway’s of his time), and a shiny spotlight on the behind-closed-doors role of the editor, and there’s plenty to bite into here. Of course, with a cast featuring Colin Firth, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Laura Linney, and Guy Pearce, you walk in confident that if all else fails, at least the performances will keep you glued. And they do, but even beyond the curious choice of a dreary gray monochrome as the film’s primary palette, there’re a number of things that bog Genius down. The source is, as ever, the screenplay; in this case, John Logan’s adaption of A. Scott Berg’s biography Max Perkins: Editor of Genius. That said, Grandage takes the lion’s share of the blame for leaving the autopilot on his director’s chair and not trying something a little more enticing in way of presentation.

As it bizarrely shifts from black-and-white into colour, Genius opens with the famous editor of Charles Scribner’s Sons, Maxwell Perkins (Firth), receiving the bulbous first draft of what will eventually become “Look Homeward, Angel.” “Is it any good?” he asks, to which the deliveryman responds, “Good? No. But it’s unique.” That hooks him in. Of course, it turns out to be more than just good or unique, as we follow Max’ endearing routine of reading the manuscript until he reaches the end and gets that look—the title of Genius appearing to make sure there’s no confusion on our part either. During this routine, we get a passing glance at Max’s household, his wife Louise (Linney) and five daughters. Being surrounded by women all his life ends up playing a big part in the strong connection he develops with the erratic, enigmatic, and entirely insufferable Thomas Wolfe (Law).

Genius packs most of its meat into scenes featuring Wolfe and Perkins, as they bulldoze through Wolfe’s protracted manuscripts, first ‘Angel,’ and then—in a period of over 2 years!—Of Time and The River. Debating over how to cut down the chapter where his character falls in love with a blue-eyed girl is the film’s pinnacle; infinitely charming and richly insightful in the dynamic between ambitious author and economic editor. Threatening to steal the show from the two men, though, is Nicole Kidman, who pulls off a fiery and embittered turn as Aline Bernstein—a woman who left her husband and two children to be Wolfe’s full-time lover. Her whole life, it seems, revolves around this man who is too busy wrestling with his mountainous ego to return the love, and if the role weren’t so utterly thankless, Kidman surely would have soared even higher.

The two men’s flippant attitudes towards their respective other halves is never fully addressed (and, ironically enough, Max seems to care more about how much Mrs. Bernstein is suffering while completely ignoring his patronizing attitude toward his own wife). Among other issues that arise out of Logan’s screenplay are the peppered stings of obviousness throughout. The most articulate example comes when F. Scott Fitzgerald (Pearce) talks of “genius friendship,” and the double meaning of the title is neatly spoon-fed. There’s also Law’s exuberant performance as Wolfe. Showy, and something that must have been a lot of fun for the actor, but with just a bit too much pep in his step. This ultimately works against the film’s final moments.

It’s the prickly characterization of Thomas Wolfe that undoes Genius in the end. Whether by weighing the importance of the female characters (especially Kidman’s Aline, as Linney’s Louise is, sadly, much too minor to even mention) a bit more significantly, keeping Law’s performance in firmer check, or fine-tuning the screenplay so that the author’s moments of clarity have bigger impact; I feel Logan and Grandage could have handled it better. The fact that he’s not the main star leaves the film all the better for it. Firth’s mighty sensitive performance as the heart of the film keeps the strength of friendship resonating throughout, and is more than enough reason for a solid recommendation.

Bumbling, overstuffed, and set in the middle-class fantasy world of Richard Curtis, Love Actually is an uneven ensemble romantic comedy that frequently appears on lists of the top Christmas movies. It had me suckered for a long time, even landing on my own list of favorite Christmas movies—but then I stopped to give the film some more thought.

It’s a very easy film not to think about. It slips down so easily, built on the stammering charms of Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, and the jolly-hockey sticks enthusiasm of Emma Thompson. It has a great cast of established actors as well as up-and-coming ones, a twinkly Christmas setting, and an upbeat pop soundtrack. The problem is, the film doesn’t hold up to any scrutiny—it’s a terrible Christmas movie, and has some pretty cynical things to say about relationships. For a film that could also be described as a chick flick, it also has a rather repellent attitude towards women.

Many Christmas films follow a basic template—the protagonist (usually male) needs to overcome either a spiritual or physical challenge, otherwise Christmas is off. Die Hard‘s John McLane (Bruce Willis) overcomes a physical challenge, before reuniting with his wife and kids. Bad Santa‘s Willie T Soke (Billy Bob Thornton) may be an alcoholic, safe-cracking store santa, but even he encounters a Scrooge-like change of heart, and finds redemption in his highly dysfunctional but loving surrogate family.

But if you carefully examine the storylines in Love Actually, you’ll realise that it’s almost a counter-Christmas movie. Christmas is a time for giving and for family, whereas in Love Actually it’s a time for ignoring your family and chasing girls half your age. For most in men in the film, their only challenge is a personal one of self-gratification.

First, there’s dishy Prime Minister David (Grant), who instantly falls in love with Natalie (Martine McCutcheon), the film’s token working class person. They seal the deal with a cheeky snog backstage at David’s niece and nephew’s nativity play. But David isn’t there for the performance—it’s just sheer chance, and he has an awkward moment with his sister Karen (Thompson), who mistakenly thinks her brother’s there for the children. Fat chance, he’s just chasing a girl.

Then there’s Jamie (Firth), who buggers off to France after his wife cheats on him, only to fall for his Portuguese maid Aurélia (Lucia Moniz). He’s a bit sniffy towards her at first, and they don’t speak a word of each other’s language. But as soon as he catches sight of her in bra and panties, he’s head over heels. He ditches his family on Christmas Eve so he can fly back and declare his love to her.

Of all Love Actually‘s stories, the only one that follows a traditional Christmas movie arc is the one with Billy Mack (Bill Nighy). He’s the first character we meet after Hugh Grant’s touchy-feely opening monologue, a washed up rock and roller shamelessly aiming for one last shot at the big time, with a drossy cover of “Love is All Around”. Curtis can’t stop referencing the song in the first few minutes of Love Actually, since it was Wet Wet Wet’s mega-hit from Four Weddings and a Funeral. The twist is, it’s now called “Christmas is All Around”, and there’s fun to be had from the way Nighy shoehorns in those extra couple of syllables on the chorus.

Despite the best efforts of Nighy, Love Actually fails as a Christmas movie. It doesn’t really resemble one in terms of structure, and it has such a selfish message at heart. The film is also very cynical about relationships and women. Although billed as the “ultimate romantic comedy”, Curtis takes a strange stance on relationships in this film. On one hand, he’s all googly eyed and innocent, smitten with the idea of love at first sight; on the other he’s like Buddy Love, lascivious and skirt-chasing.

I have no problem accepting the notion of “love at first sight” in films. I was totally on board when Michael Corleone was hit by the thunderbolt in The Godfather, falling instantly in love with Apollonia. Don’t even get me started on Leo DiCaprio and Claire Daines doing their coochy-coo faces through the fish tank in Romeo and Juliet—loved it.

Love Actually seems to suggest that the moment you turn your back, your partner will be hopping into bed with someone else. This fate befalls Jamie, cuckolded by his wife, and Harry (Alan Rickman) and Karen’s marriage is clearly damaged by Harry’s ill-advised flirtation with Mia (Heike Makatsch). Even hunky, handsome Chiwetel Ejiofor isn’t immune. Having just married the gorgeous Juliet (Keira Knightley), he isn’t aware that his Best Man Mark (Andrew Lincoln) is hopelessly in love with her, and spent their whole wedding obsessively filming close ups of her smiling face. If that wasn’t enough, he shows up on their doorstep on Christmas Eve, posing as carol singers and declaring his love to her with some cue cards, in the manner of Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues”.

Juliet’s actions in this segment are pretty despicable, which brings us to the subject of how women are portrayed in Love Actually. Most barely register as characters. Many are either prizes to be won, floozies, or too over-the-hill to be attractive anymore. Things are way rosier if you’re a bloke in Love Actually. If your wife cheats on you, dies, or gets a bit old and knackered, don’t worry because there’s always some young bit of crumpet waiting around the corner for you. And while there is a long-standing tradition in Hollywood where older men play opposite young, attractive actresses in films, but Love Actually really pushes the envelope. Alan Rickman and Heike Makatsch, Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon, Colin Firth and Lucia Moniz, Liam Neeson and Claudia Schiffer—all these match ups felt highly implausible.

The objectification of women is most evident in the film’s most risible storyline, that of Colin (Kris Marshall), a hollow-eyed creep who’s poison with the ladies. He treats himself to a ticket to Milwaukee because he’s heard American birds get turned on by an English accent. Of course, in the world of Love Actually, he’s able to rock up in a dive bar and stumble upon a trio of hotties instantly seduced by the way he speaks. A foursome follows, soon to be a quintet when Denise Richards gets back home.

All this goes against what we normally expect from Christmas movies, which usually reinforce the virtues of self-sacrifice, open-mindedness and the pleasures of family life. While there is nothing wrong with skirting genre expectations, Love Actually is filled with bogus Christmas cheer. In fact it preaches the opposite—screw your family, chase the girl, and look after your own best interests.

If over the holidays the doorbell rings and your significant other tells you that it’s carol singers, maybe go see for yourself. Just in case…

In 2010, Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass, based on the Mark Millar comic book, sent up, honored, and brutalized the super hero/crimefighter mythos. With Kingsman: The Secret Service, another comic book adaptation, Vaughn and Millar do the same for the myth of the English gentleman superspy; tailored suits, martinis, highly improbable action set pieces, flamboyant criminal masterminds–no cliché is safe. It’s a sadistic 21st-century attitude adjustment for the sub-genre that Bond built, a gory, vulgar, hilarious frenzy of a movie. It’s a bit of a mess, with wonky pacing and several underdeveloped ideas, but it’s got the same appeal as a rickety wooden roller coaster: it’s dangerous and questionably constructed, but that makes it exciting and fun, in a perverse, death-wish sort of way.

Those who’ve watched the misleading trailer for the film and expect an elegant, international spy thriller populated by posh English fellows will be thrown for a loop, and I’m pretty sure Vaughn’s laughing his ass off about it. It’s apparent that you’re getting more than you bargained for from the get-go, when a man gets split in half, dome-to-balls, by a blade-footed female assassin (Sofia Boutella), his halves flopping to the floor like sliced bread. The assassin works for the film’s big-bad, an American psycho-billionaire with a Mike Tyson lisp named Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), who’s scheming to cleanse the world via bloodlust-inducing microchips.

The only ones who can stop him are Kingsman, an independent espionage league made up of dapper chaps who speak the Queen’s English, have Arthurian codenames, and have a secret stockpile of deadly gadgets (bulletproof umbrellas, cigarette-lighter grenades) hidden behind a secret door in a Savile Row tailor shop. Colin Firth plays Harry Hart (codename “Galahad”), a Kingsman who, in the movie’s first scene, leads his team on a Middle East interrogation mission that ends with the death of his protégé. 17 years later, another Kingsman dies on a mission (the poor “sliced bread” guy, “Lancelot”), and Harry must find his replacement. He chooses his deceased protégé’s now-adult son, Eggsy (Taron Egerton), to be his new recruit and, potentially, the new Lancelot. The parkour-practicing Eggsy leaps at the opportunity; since his father’s death, he and his delirious mom have been stuck in a ratty apartment, having to put up with his drunk stepdad’s abuse on the daily. He’s had a tough upbringing and is thoroughly rough around the edges, a far cry from the immaculately-dressed and composed Harry or Arthur (Michael Caine), the dignified leader of Kingsman, but he’s willing to learn the ways.

When Harry brings Eggsy back to Kingsman HQ to meet the other young candidates for the Lancelot position (Oxford-educated snobs who look down on Eggsy’s working-class pedigree), the film goes the teenage-bootcamp route, á la Ender’s Game, Harry Potter, and Vaughn’s own X-Men: First Class. Eggsy’s interactions with the sniveling bullies (his only friend is Roxy, played by Sophie Cookson, the sole girl in the group) aren’t nearly as entertaining and easy as his scenes with Firth. The superspy training segments, which include a superfluous synchronized skydive and an exercise in seduction that has “deleted scene” written all over it, are the least engaging bits of the movie, and always seem to drag on longer than you’d like.

Business picks up when Harry is attacked whilst investigating Valentine’s operation, and from there the film gets injected with a giant shot of frenetic mega-violence akin to the films of Neveldine and Taylor (Crank, Gamer), which I happen to get a kick out of despite them being widely panned by critics and audiences alike for their excessive use of blood and mutilation. Vaughn’s bravura scene involves Harry, brainwashed by one of Valentine’s microchips, going on a rampage through a Kentucky church, slaughtering dozens of white supremacists in a flurry of gun ballet, set to “Free Bird”. Depending on your taste in action movies, you’ll either find it disgraceful and repulsive or gloriously entertaining. I fell on the side of the latter, and while Kingsman is a largely indulgent and sometimes shallow affair, I couldn’t help but have a good time. The bite of the goriest moments is also alleviated by the film’s cheeky, jocular tone; it’s not taking itself too seriously, and we’re not meant to either.

There are some seeds of ideas peppered throughout the script (written by Vaughn and regular collaborator Jane Goldman) that are meant to turn the notion of the spy-thriller on its head, but they aren’t given enough time to grow. When Jackson’s Valentine breaks away from the Bond-villain stereotype by shooting one of the main characters in the head instead of inexplicably imprisoning them, he hits the nail squarely on the head when he taunts, “This isn’t that kind of movie” (a line that’s revisited later in a similar context). It’s true that this isn’t your average spy movie by any measure, but it isn’t a revelatory twist on the sub-genre either. When a great stand-up comedian like Chris Rock or the late Richard Pryor exposes the absurdity of a subject on stage, like racism or the government or sexism, they do it from all angles, with no mercy, dissecting and dissecting until there’s nothing left but a bloody pulp. Then, they provide new insight that reveals the real truth of the matter. Kingsman forgets to do that last part.

Vaughn is a filmmaker of flair, and with Kingsman he struts his stuff like there’s no tomorrow. Whenever violence erupts, it’s with the force and magnitude of a supervolcano, and though the cuts and zooms are frequent, they never become redundant, and the staging is well organized. The film jumps around a lot (across the globe, across themes), but Eggsy and Harry are the glue that keeps the film from spinning out of control. Egerton’ street-smart swagger just right, and though the movie isn’t exactly brimming with heart or sentimentality, he manages to imbue it with a sense of youthful nobility. Through the success of his previous films, Vaughn’s earned the prerogative to make the kind of movies he wants to make, throwing convention to the wind. He’s not going to please everyone with Kingsman, but there’s no doubt he’s pleased himself. It’s a treat for genre nuts with a fondness for the grotesque, silly, and outlandish, its cult status is sure to grow with time.

Based on S. J. Watson’s highly successful debut novel, Before I Go to Sleep follows the intriguing story of Christine (Nicole Kidman) who, suffering from an acute form of amnesia, wakes up every morning not knowing who she is, where she is, or who the strange man (Colin Firth) laying in the bed beside her is.

Cinema is a medium that has proven on many occasions to be adept at conveying the manipulation of memory. The editing of images and sounds, unsurprisingly lends itself to conveying the confusion that comes with memory disorders like amnesia. It’s also a brilliant template for a thriller, as films such as Christopher Nolan’s Memento have proven. With a strong cast led by Mark Strong and Colin Firth, still riding high after his success with The King’s Speech, director Rowan Joffe would seemingly have all the elements for a great film.

However, despite a promising start, Before I Go to Sleep is sadly let down by a number of flaws which stop it from lacking the sharp edge and depth that could have led to it’s success.

The most apparent of these flaws is an emphasis of plot over character. This may not be surprising considering the norms of the thriller genre, unfortunately it leaves the film feeling more like a Sunday tea-time melodrama, than the fascinating character thriller it could have been.

Few of the film’s characters are given the time to breathe any life into what becomes a rather bland drama. This is particularly the case with Mark Strong’s Doctor Nash, who for all the depth the character is given might as well be called Dr Plot Exposition. Claire, who seems poised to be a significant character, is also frustratingly given very little screen time. The one character who is given life, thanks to a strong performance from Colin Firth, is Ben, Christine’s husband. Firth clearly relishes the chance to play against his reputation as the warm, cuddly, nice guy of cinema and he hits the mark brilliantly in most of his scenes. The scenes in which he reveals his dark side, and attempts to manipulate Christine are especially well-played, but his strong presence only seems to call attention to the weakness of Christine’s character, and gives him little to play off.

The film works best in the tense scenes approaching the film’s climax. Joffe, channeling Kubrick’s The Shining with long nightmarish shots of hotel corridors and dark shadows behind doors, brings the film to life in these scenes, awakening Before I Go To Sleep (if you will forgive the pun) from its slumber. Also, while Nicole Kidman may butcher romantic or complex scenes with a hacksaw with her often cringe-inducing melodramatic acting, she is clearly one of the best in the business at doing the kind of bug-eyed terror required for horror and this heightens the drama of these scenes. There is also some clever directing amongst the clumsy dialogue and thinly drawn characters. An example of this is the use of a digital camera to record Christine’s memories of her day before she forgets it all. It works well and is a clever way of representing her diary entries in the books.

The overriding feeling when watching this film is that too much of it has been left on the cutting room floor, it’s a film that feels rushed. As is often the case with thrillers, the best policy is to slowly drip-feed the film’s twists and turns, but Before I Go to Sleep fails in this department, often jumping the gun and leaving a series of revelations which drive the plot forward but lacking in the impact they could have had if Joffe was a little more patient. The film’s abrupt ending is also likely to leave many feeling cheated of a satisfying climax.

Overall it’s a watchable film and, in some places, even a pleasurable thriller, but too often it fails to rise above mediocre and that is its biggest downfall.

Woody Allen returns to his touristic tendencies in Magic in the Moonlight a film set in the gorgeous natural surroundings of the south of France circa 1928. This is a decidedly light and breezy outing for Mr. Allen, but one that has an enchanting air about it, pleasurable until the end. Those who delight in Allen’s witty banter will find a treasure trove of funny lines to recite for their friends, but a momentous work this is not; a lack of narrative finesse and tepid chemistry between its two stars stops the film short of the greatness of Midnight in Paris, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and Match Point, his best films of the 21st century.

Driving the film is Stanley Crawford, a British, world-renowned illusionist played by a perfectly casted Colin Firth whose signature sternness serves the role well. Firth plays Stanley with a good measure of high-class English properness (he’s a natural at that kind of thing) mixed with a heavy dose of skepticism and boorishness that makes him a compelling and hilariously crude protagonist. Stanley’s tasked by a friend to debunk a ravishing American mentalist named Sophie (Emma Stone), who’s been dazzling rich folk along the French Riviera. Aside from being known to the world as Wei Ling Soo, the Chinese master magician (he wears a costume and make-up when he performs), Stanley also boasts an unblemished streak of disproving mystics, a streak he has every confidence will remain unbroken given a few days with Sophie at one of her wealthy victim’s sprawling estates.

On the surface, Magic is a sweetly entertaining cat-and-mouse romance full of laughs and stunning vistas, and this is where its pleasures would end in the hands of a less experienced filmmaker. Allen adds introspective depth to the film, however, as his cynicism and disillusionment with the world around him are embodied by Stanley, who’s constantly convinced that all good things are a hoax. (He is a professional hoaxer, after all.) But Allen reckons with this negative energy in the film by telling a story that knocks Stanley down a few pegs and convince him that there are, in fact, unexplainable delights in this world that we should bear no shame in indulging. Sophie, a ray of sunshine and spirituality, is Allen’s emphatic endeavor to make believers of non-believers.

While Sophie’s seances and impromptu “mental vibration” readings stupefy and astound everyone around her, Stanley’s gift for sniffing out phoniness makes him far less vulnerable to her mental miracles. He can’t stop himself from trying to poke holes in her would-be facade, but the more he prods, the more impenetrable her aura becomes. When Sophie, donning a fetching black beret and red skirt, reads Stanley’s “vibrations” and correctly senses that he once had an uncle who drowned, his jaw hits the floor just as everyone else’s. Could this blue-eyed girl really be the link to the great beyond?

Stanley does eventually let down his guard and stamp Sophie as a legitimate mystic (in a moment best discovered in the film), but his transition from skeptic to believer is handled clumsily. Despite several scenes in which Stanley’s disbelief is abated, the actual turn feels jarringly over-enthusiastic, to the point that you wonder whether or not he’s being facetious as he showers Sophie with praise and apologies for his bull-headedness.

Following Stanley’s epiphany, the film more outwardly takes the form of a Rohmer-ish destination romance. The pairing of Stone and Firth works incredibly well comedically, with the funniness of their barb battles magnified by the discrepancy in age and temperament. Romantically, however, the two don’t fit quite as snugly. When actors successfully sell their attraction to one another, you can almost feel the body heat between them, but here, Stone and Firth come just short of sparking a flame. Their body language isn’t forced, but it does feel a bit labored.

The supporting cast is typically excellent for an Allen production, with Eileen Atkins standing out as Stanley’s compassionate, wise aunt. Also making a mark is Hamish Linklater, playing an enthusiastic young man who follows Sophie around like a puppy, singing her romantic ’20s pop tunes on his ukelele (a sight ten times funnier on screen than it is on paper). The set and costume design is shimmery and glamorously detailed, with the fancy cars and mansions looking so stunning the film blurs the line between period piece and pre-war fantasy.

Magic in the Moonlight isn’t the funniest, best looking, or most enjoyable installment Allen’s oeuvre, but it’s perfectly recommendable and memorable. Like its characters, bathed in wondrous sunlight, the film charms with its words and entices with its good looks, strolling along, tugging at the heartstrings ever so gently.

Magic in the Moonlight trailer

Imagine waking up everyday with no new memories. Your mind a complete blank slate except for everything you knew up until a traumatic accident. Until one day, someone reveals a new truth to you that forces you to investigate everything you had thought to be reliable. No, don’t say Memento, this isn’t Memento (probably); it’s Before I Go To Sleep, the new film from the writer of 28 Weeks Later and The American, Rowan Jaffe.

The upcoming mystery/thriller Before I Go To Sleep stars Nicole Kidman as the amnesiatic woman, and Colin Firth and Mark Strong as the other points on a love triangle. Before I Go To Sleep seems to have implemented a video camera device for Nicole’s character to leave herself messages, and likely preventing Kidman from needing to ink several body tattoos as notes-to-self. The movie is based on the novel of the same name, the first published by English author S. J. Watson.

Before I Go to Sleep will be released in the UK on September 5th and the US on September 12th, check out the trailer below:

Before I Go To Sleep trailer

Magic in the Moonlight takes Woody Allen back to France and back in time again, though there will be no Midnight in Paris-esque time traveling involved (we think). Set in the 1920s, Colin Firth stars as Stanley, a magician and “the greatest debunker of fake spiritualists,” sent to the French Riviera to investigate Emma Stone‘s Sophie. Sophie, meanwhile, has near everyone convinced she’s a medium with the help of her cleverness and charming looks (the role is played by Emma Stone, after all).

Moonlight also teams Allen up with several actors whom he hasn’t worked with before, including Stone and Firth, Marcia Gay Harden, Hamish Linklater, and recent 2-time Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver. The film is set for a US release on July 25th, and if the long-standing Allen trend of hit-miss-hit-miss-hit stays in tact, this may be a skippable effort from Woody (though the trailer is no indication of that). Check out a preview below:

Watch trailer for Magic in the Moonlight

The King’s Speech took top honors with Best Picture at the 83rd Academy Awards Sunday night, along with Tom Hooper for Best Director and Colin Firth for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay for that film. Natalie Portman got a well deserved Best Actress win for her role in Black Swan. Christian Bale received Best Supporting Actor and Melissa Leo won Best Supporting Actress both from the film The Fighter. Inception won most of the “tech” awards as it was predicted to do.

See the full list of nominations

The King’s Speech

Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech

Christian Bale, The Fighter

Melissa Leo, The Fighter

David Seidler, The King’s Speech

Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

In A Better World

Toy Story 3

Inception

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland

“We Belong Together”, Toy Story 3

The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Inside Job

The Social Network

The Wolfman

Inception

Inception

Inception

Strangers No More

The Lost Thing

God of Love

Tom Hooper’s The King Speech is a feel good film with an interesting but true story to go along with it. Not filled with many surprises but it will not leave you feeling disappointed. This is due to two outstanding performances by both Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. The film has gained a lot of media attention with receiving the most Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. Is this film worth all of the praise?

The King’s Speech is about Bertie, Duke of York (Colin Firth) who is the younger son of the elderly King George V. One of duties that comes along with being a King or leader of an empire is the ability to speak in public. This is especially important during this time period as Britain was entering into war with Germany. Unfortunately for Bertie this would not be easy as he has a stammer, the stuttering of words.

The opening scene of the film we see Bertie attempting to present a speech in front a large crowd but his stammer got the best of him and failed to give a worthwhile speech. Instead we are left with an embarrassed leader who basically has no voice. He does everything he can to get out of speaking more than a few sentences, even with his kids when they request that he reads them a story, he is reluctant.

He has seemingly seen all of the speech therapists out there but still he has not overcome his speech problem. That is where Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) comes in. Without Bertie’s knowing, his wife meets with him. Lionel likes to play by his own rules and insists Bertie comes to him. Lionel seems both confident and stubborn but most importantly, willing to help.

When the two first meet they both fight for territory, dictating how they want to be addressed and how the meeting should be ran. Both are stubborn in their own ways and perhaps because of that, Bertie does not think his unorthodox methods will help him with his stammer. He storms out of Lionel’s office.

It is only a short while later though, he realizes that Lionel’s ways may not be so absurd and he agrees to work with him. Lionel over and over tries to find little rewards to Bertie for completing certain tasks, much like Pavlov would have done. Bertie is always so reluctant to follow the instructions which is a bit frustrating but eventually comes around and does what he is told.

In one heart-felt scene Bertie does what he said he would not do in the very beginning and that is talk about his personal matters. He spills what is likely the cause of his stammer, that this father was very hard on him as a child. Also mentions that he was ridiculed and often corrected which are common causes of picking up a stammer.

It becomes clear to Lionel (and the viewer) that Bertie may not only be coming to him for his speech problem. Lionel realizes that Bertie could be someone great if he was not so timid and shy. He could be a leader if he was not so afraid of leading and a great speaker if we only could speak clearly.

After his father, King George V, passes away, it is his brother Edward (Guy Pearce) would be taking his place as the King. Bertie is quite alright with this as he does not want to take on the role, mostly because of his speech problem. However, he learns his brother is wants a divorce of his current wife in order to marry the woman he truly loves.

This terrifies Bertie and he tries to encourage his brother to reconsider, mainly because he is afraid of assuming the role. As no good news to him, his brother Edward renounces the throne because of his interest of another woman. This means without choice that Bertie will now take over as the King whether he is ready to be or not.

There is some good use of symbolism when Lionel tells Bertie his does not need to carry around his father in his pocket just because his face is on the coins he carries. Because he needs to get over the causes of which he acquired the stammer from in order to improve his condition.

Colin Firth is without a doubt deserving the nominations he has received for his role. In fact, I expect he will rightfully win Best Actor at this year’s Oscars. However, I do not see how Helena Bonham Carter was nominated for Best Supporting Female; she was not very important in the film nor was she even in it all that much. On the other hand, Geoffrey Rush did such a brilliant job playing the stubborn but clever speech therapist. He completed the film and I feel without him The King’s Speech would not have been as pleasant.

So do I think The King’s Speech is worthy of all the praise it has gained? For the most part, yes. As I mentioned before the acting was suburb and as a whole the film was well done. The story about the King with no voice is interesting but fairly straight-forward and does not have much depth. It is not hard to guess what is going to happen and it does not try hard to change that. Which is why I think it will win some of the Acting awards but nothing more. It is an inspiring film, even more so if you have speech difficulties, that is well worth a watch.

Ricky Gervais hosted the 68th Golden Globe Awards this year. Even though The King’s Speech had the most nominations with seven, it was rather unsurprising that The Social Network ended up with the most of the film awards that included; Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Original Score. I was very happy to see Natalie Portman won Best Actress in Motion Picture Drama, it was very well deserved. Glee had the most awards for TV with three total wins. I was happy to see Jim Parsons win Best Actor in a TV comedy or musical. Not only do I enjoy The Big Bang Theory but it was nice to see someone in a comedy or musical get some respect other than Glee. Here is the full list of winners:

FILM

Best Motion Picture – Drama:
The Social Network

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical:
The Kids Are All Right

Best Director:
David Fincher, The Social Network

Best Actress – Drama:
Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Best Actor – Drama:
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

Best Actress – Comedy or Musical:
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Best Actor – Comedy or Musical:
Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version

Best Supporting Actress:
Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale, The Fighter

Best Foreign Language Film:
In A Better World

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture:
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

Best Original Score – Motion Picture:
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network

Best Animated Feature Film:
Toy Story 3

Best Original Song – Motion Picture:
“You Haven’t Seen The Last Of Me”, Burlesque

Cecil B. DeMille Award:
Robert De Niro

TV

Best Drama Series:
Boardwalk Empire

Best Comedy Or Musical:
Glee

Best TV Movie/Miniseries:
Carlos

Best Actress – Drama:
Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy

Best Actor – Drama:
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire

Best Actress – Comedy or Musical:
Laura Linney, The Big C

Best Actor – Comedy or Musical:
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Best Actress – TV Movie/Miniseries:
Claire Danes, Temple Grandin

Best Actor – TV Movie/Miniseries:
Al Pacino, You Don’t Know Jack

Best Supporting Actress – TV Series:
Jane Lynch, Glee

Best Supporting Actor – TV Series:
Chris Colfer, Glee