The King's Speech (Sam)

SAM'S RANKING: 10 out of 10

In the opening scenes of "The King's Speech," Prince Albert, Duke of York (Colin Firth), is scheduled to conclude the Empire Exhibition's radio broadcast from London. He approaches the microphone, but at his cue, he stands there silently for at least fifteen seconds. When he finally begins to deliver his speech, he delivers it in stammers, with the microphone only making things worse.

Albert's wife, Elizabeth, Duchess of York (Helen Bonham Carter), goes to see Lionel Logue (Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush), a speech therapist who uses a different strategy than other speech therapists. He does his job his own way, requiring Albert to come to his rundown office. Albert is initially cynical toward Logue, but eventually agrees to do therapy sessions to overcome his speech impediment.

However, as the therapy sessions pass, Albert faces a challenge when his father, King George V (Michael Gambon), dies and his brother Edward (Guy Pearce) inherits the throne. Edward may face abdication due to his decision to marry Wallis Simpson (Eve Best), a twice-divorced American socialite, putting tongue-tied Albert in an uncompromising position.

"The King's Speech" features a lot of attention to detail; there are several long, slow-moving scenes, and a detailed, Oscar-worthy set decoration. Logue's office is the epitome of this, with beautifully painted walls and shabby wooden doors that look like they are a hundred years old (but probably aren't). The dialogue is filled with a surprising amount of humor, something that is becoming curiously common in movies.

But the relationship between Albert and Lionel becomes more than just doctor-patient. Lionel's strategy involves talking about personal matters, which Albert initially rebuffs but finds helpful. In one of the movie's better scenes, Albert reveals painful childhood memories, all of which are often associated with speech impediment.

The performances are brilliant, with Firth believably portraying Albert's frustration over his stutter, and Rush equally good as the imaginative Lionel. Carter also turns in a good performance as Albert's sympathetic wife.

The biggest strength of "The King's Speech" is realism; it never glosses over the challenges of the characters, and even though it's obviously exaggerated at times, it doesn't feel that way.