The King's Speech

[the_wolfs_howl]

(IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1504320/)

So, I'm really interested in this movie. It looks like it would be very intriguing - a new king struggling to overcome his speech impediments so he can lead his country through a war? Sounds good to me! It's also got a really high rating at RottenTomatoes (93% - I haven't seen a movie rated this high since like...LotR), and I've heard some people speak highly of it. And it certainly has an impressive lineup of actors - Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Jennifer Ehle, Timothy Spall...and some others too @_@

The only reason I'm sitting here typing this and not rushing out to the theater right now is because it's rated R. From what I can tell in reviews, it sounds like the only reason that's so is because there's a lot of profanity. I was wondering if anyone here had seen it yet, and if so, please comment on this! I know different people have different tolerance levels for profanity, but I'm wondering if it's really that bad. I mean, are they swearing in practically every sentence and just throwing words right and left, or do you not notice?

I'm really interested in seeing this movie, but not too keen on spending all that money on a ticket if I'm going to be subjected to a couple hours of nonstop foul language blasting in surround sound.

[TWWK]

I can't comment on the the amount of profanity, but I can say that it might be an early favorite for Oscar nominations, particularly with how many other nods it's already received (see Golden Globe nominations).

[bigsleepj]

I'm looking forward to it, though I may be the only person I know personally who wants to.

[Atria35]

Yeah- the profanity. One of the exercizes that is given is for him to string together a bunch of expetives to get him to speak clearer. My mother explained the idea behind this, but I can't remember it at the moment.

[TWWK]

For what it's worth, Roger Ebert's review includes these lines:
Note: The R rating refers to Logue's use of vulgarity. It is utterly inexplicable. This is an excellent film for teenagers.

[ShiroiHikari]

I would like to see this, but I'm kind of a sucker for Oscarbait movies.

[Radical Dreamer]

I haven't seen the trailer for this yet, but I heard about it a few days ago and I think it sounds pretty good. XD Geoffrey Rush is always a welcome addition to a cast like this, so I'd definitely like to see it eventually. XD

Also, just for future reference, pretty much every movie page on IMDB has a pretty reliable content advisor if you're curious about what sort of content is going to be in a movie you want to see. XD It's there if you scroll past the cast listing. XD

[Atria35]

My family is going to see this for our Xmas movie. So excited!

[Nate]

So they live in a world where nobody can read or write?

[Atria35]

So they live in a world where nobody can read or write?

It takes place in the 30's, 40's, where the king and his progeny HAVE to do public speeches and events, much like today and what our president and his wife must do.

In any case, what is it: It's a story about a not-very-well-known man, named King George the IV, who helped give his people confidence through the war. However, this is about his time before and a little into that period, from oneof the last times he saw a speech therapist- until his wife came to one that was slightly unconventional. Through various interesting methods and getting to know eachother, the Duke of York and his new therapist become friends and deal with the steps forward and steps back as the Duke must also deal with family, the stresses of royal life, being crowned king, and having to declare war on Germany. Which leads up to a speech that many of you who've had a class on WW2 have probably heard, but maybe think it was given by Churchill.

Why it's rated R- it's all about the language. While the total amount is actually no more than what you'd hear in a PG-13 movie, and a good amount isn't what we in America would deem dirty language, there are two times where it's brought to attention- the therapist realizes that the Duke doesn't stammer when swearing, so to help him get out a solid, long sentence, he has the Duke give out a string of swears. Later in the movie before giving one of the biggest speeches of his life, in order to try and loosen him up and get him in the rhythm of speaking, the therapist has him fill in some of the spaces where he'd normally stutter with swearing.

Other than that? Nada. Some playful kissing between him and his wife in one scene, some smoking and drinking (it is England in the 30's-40's, the same thing was in America). And his brother is verbally implied to be having an affair.

It was an amazing movie. What I thought we were going to see was an indifferent life story of some famous person. What we got was an AMAZING movie about two men who become friends and manage to overcome a great hurdle and .... It was fabulous. The way the politics of the time were woven into the story was very well-done, the unexpected humor (even the scenes with the swearing ended up being rather funny!) was on-target.

I cannot say enough good things about this movie.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Thank you, Atria! That was exactly the sort of thing I was looking for

[Atria35]

N/P! I think I'm the only person here to have seen it so far, so I figured giving this description was the least I could do!