Royalty killed the radio star

The story of King George VI of Britain is a well-known one, but mostly due to his impromptu ascension to the throne as a result of his brother King Edward VIII's relationship with American divorcee Wallis Simpson. British film The King's Speech seeks to take audiences deeper into the private lives of the Royal family and the personal struggles of King George, namely his debilitating stutter.

The film opens in 1925 soon after radio has made it into every home worldwide and now the Royal family are required to do more that ``look like a king''. Enter Prince Albert Frederick Arthur George (Colin Firth, above) or Bertie, as he's known to his wife Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (Helena Bonham Carter) and daughters Elizabeth and Margaret. Bertie has such a severe stammer and fear of public speaking, that all his addresses end in a confudled mess of British angst and embarrassment. His wife has dragged him along to every speech therapist and doctor to no avail, that is, until she comes across the talents of unorthodox Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush, above). Reluctantly, Bertie begins sessions with Logue which include peculiar exercises, outbursts of swearing, psychological tricks and what soon develops into an unlikely friendship between the pair. But after the death of his father the King (Michael Gambon), his older brother King Edward (Guy Pearce) is more interested in chasing American tale than fulfilling his duties as King, while across the way Hitler is gaining power and momentum. Bertie's speech improvement and newfound confidence is going to be put to the test in a time when the nation needs him more than ever.

The King's Speech is in many ways a period bromance as we, the audience, follow the development of a beautiful friendship between Bertie and Logue. The characters are rich, multi-layered specimens - Bertie especially, who at first comes across as a pompous Brit but is in actual fact a lifelong victim of bullying and someone very easy to sympathise with. Logue too is fantastically realistic and it's a credit to the screen writers that they've resisted the urge to make him an `Aussie ocker' cliché. The performances are flawless, with Firth fully deserving of the career Oscar he's tipped for and Rush immaculate and restrained as the highly intelligent therapist. The supporting cast in Bonham Carter (below), Pearce and Gambon too are impressive.The sets shy away from the overly-Royal sentiment that so often drowns period pieces. Instead it truly captures the grim and depressing sentiment of a nation on the brink of another war. And although the ingredients are right, The King's Speech can't help but become boring in patches. Between the fantastic montages of Bertie and Logue practising colourful speech techniques come tedious scenes, heavy in dialogue and little else. It's a shame, because director Tom Hooper has gone to such effort to make this period-piece as detailed and revealing as possible, which it is. However, in the end the stuffy British-ness tends to weigh the film down.

The King’s Speech is out Boxing Day.