Tom Hooper’s critically acclaimed film ‘The King’s Speech’ earned 12 Oscar nominations on Tuesday including Best Picture, Best Director (Tom Hooper), Best Actor (Colin Firth), Best Supporting Actor (Geoffrey Rush) and Best Supporting Actress (Helena Bonham Carter). Statistically the film is leading in actual number of Oscar nominations. However, there are a lot of excellent films in the race this year. ‘The Fighter’ has led my local award season polls. ‘The King’s Speech’ opened in limited release, so it did not make it to the Flint area until last Friday. I went to see it yesterday at the NCG Trillium Cinema, Grand Blanc and spoke with some moviegoers following the film. One person said, ‘Definitely, definitely should get Best Picture. What an incredible film. And Colin Firth, hands down, should have the Oscar too.’
The tragic thing for King George VI was that he grew up in the public eye and was forced onto the throne, and expected to verbally address the people and be the voice of England. For someone with a stammer, this would have to be terrifying – and Firth brilliantly expresses that fear. Rush as speech therapist Lionel Logue and Firth as King George VI have incredible chemistry and depict an intense and moving bond. They share an intimacy King George has never known with anyone outside his wife, as, he was ostracized and often taunted as a child, by his family and his peers. He admits to Logue he never really had a friend. Firth is a master at conveying the pain and the shame and the vulnerability surrounding having a disability, especially one that is a physical manifestation of an emotional trauma that was never acknowledged. As Logue struggles to get to the underlying cause of the King’s speech impediment, the story that unfolds is both heartbreaking and victorious.
Viewers in my local theater auditorium, myself included, moved from tears to laughter and back again throughout the course of the movie.
In a January 27th Detroit News article columnist Tom Long said:
‘’The King's Speech’ is now probably the best picture front-runner. The 12 nominations it received show across-the-board support from Oscar voters, all of whom vote for best pic.
Last week I wrote that ‘Speech’ might still be in the race, simply because it's so damn good and such perfect Oscar fare. This week ‘Speech’ seems to be leading the race.’
The NY Times Carpetbagger recently reported:
‘Oscar prospects brightened for ‘The King’s Speech,’ as the film’s producers — Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin — won the top award for makers of a theatrical motion picture from the Producers Guild of America on Saturday night. The prize is generally an indicator of strength in the Academy Awards race, because many of the guild’s voting members also belong to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which grants the Oscars. Last year’s top film award from the producers went to ‘The Hurt Locker,’ which went on to win the best picture Oscar.’
Firth has already won the Critics Choice and Golden Globe Award for his role in the film. This may mark him as the Oscar frontrunner. His fellow Oscar nominees are:
- Javier Bardem ‘Biutiful’
- Jeff Bridges ‘True Grit’
- Jesse Eisenberg ‘The Social Network’
- James Franco – ‘127 Hours’
Firth’s strongest contenders seem to be James Franco (also the Oscar show co-host) and Jeff Bridges. Firth and Bridges were nominated for Oscars together last year. Bridges took the statue for his role in ‘Crazy Heart’. During his post-nomination interview on ‘The Today Show’ Tuesday host Matt Lauer asked Firth how he was going to take Bridges out this year. Firth said:
‘What I felt last year is I don’t know if it has to get any better than this. If you wait 50 years for something, you know, and you hit a moment like this, it’s celebration enough. I’m just thrilled to be at the party.’
Click here for a complete list of Oscar nominations.
‘The King’s Speech’ is playing in the Flint area at NCG Trillium Cinemas Grand Blanc. Click here for show times.
The 83rd Annual Academy Awards will air February 27th in the Flint area on WJRT TV ABC12 at 8 PM EST.
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