The King's Speech (2010)

Film: The King's Speech (2010)

Director: Tom Hooper

Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter

A friend of mine, who honestly pays more attention to the cinema than I do, stumbled upon two free tickets to see The King's Speech at our local Picturehouse Cinema in Bath, The Little Theatre. When I say stumbled upon, I really mean that he was quick enough and wise enough to apply for tickets before everyone else. Little White Lies magazine and Grolsch have partnered up to host exclusive previews of new films, and luckily for me The King's Speech was one of them. My mate regrettably couldn't attend so he offered up his seats to my girlfriend and I, which was extremely nice of him and I'm still very grateful (thanks again Simon!). I'd seen the trailer for Tom Hooper's new film about King George VI and the awful speech impediment that plagued him, and thought it looked pretty interesting so I jumped at the chance to see it for free.

When we arrived at the theatre, complete with our names on the guest-list (how very A-list), we quickly found our seats. Thanks to Grolsch, Little White Lies, and the fine folks at the Little Theatre in Bath, we were treated to a free bottle of Grolsch each and some very fancy Dutch cheese. After a few bites I soon discovered that cheese and beer doesn't go together as well as I'd have liked, but the thought was there nonetheless and free stuff is always great. Plus, my girlfriend isn't too keen on beer so I got her bottle as well. Score.

So you probably want to know what I thought of the film right? The King's Speech is without doubt one of the best films I've witnessed this year. Heading into the cinema I was anticipating a good film, but I came away with so much more as Tom Hooper's masterpiece was a terrific surprise. I'm not going to reveal too much of the plot, as the film is not officially released in the UK for another week or so, but I would just say that if you have the means to go and see The King's Speech, go and do it. Colin Firth puts in a magnificent performance as 'Bertie' and should be a dead cert to win the Oscar next year. Firth is mesmerising as the King, and is so convincing with a speech impediment that I will find it hard to imagine him in anything else. Geoffrey Rush is equally sublime as Lionel Logue, the Australian speech therapist whose job it was to cure the King of his stutter. Rush and Firth have such a brilliant chemistry together and made the film much more humorous than I was expecting. The two leading men ensured that The King's Speech didn't provide a boring moment throughout. The rest of the cast were also perfect for their roles, notably Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth and Guy Pearce as the dastardly King Edward VIII. The King's Speech is an outstanding example of British cinema at its best, and Tom Hooper has surpassed the lofty heights of his previous film, The Damned United. As the film came to a close, it started to have an odd effect on me, as you strangely feel quite patriotic as you exit the cinema. I can't say that about many other movies.

The King's Speech was a fantastic film and I thoroughly recommend you go and see it as soon as possible. Even if it doesn't look like your sort of thing, just give it a try and I believe you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's THAT good.

A More Enjoyable Reality Rating: 9/10

Grolsch and Little White Lies are hosting more exclusive previews in 2011, and I'm hoping to get some tickets to see some of them, as The King's Speech was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. I've already applied for tickets to see David O. Russell's new film The Fighter in late January, so fingers crossed.

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The American (2010)

Film: The American (2010)

Director: Anton Corbijn

Starring: George Clooney, Paolo Bonacelli, Violante Placido

I had high expectations heading into this one, especially after reading some favourable reviews in Empire and Little White Lies (who claimed it was one of 'the best films of the year'). I was excited to see The American and what it had to offer. I wouldn't say I'm a massive Clooney fan, and I've never seen anything by Corbijn, but I still thought the film looked really interesting, a Bourne-like thriller set in the heart of rural Italy. I unfortunately missed the preview the Little Theatre in Bath had on in November, but I did manage to see it a few weeks later.

To be honest, I wish I hadn't bothered. The American certainly didn't live up to the hype, not for me anyway. It starts out brightly enough, with Clooney's character Jack narrowly escaping an assassination in the Swedish tundra. Jack then has to flee to safety and ends up in a small town in Italy (the stunning Castel del Monte in Abruzzo), where he befriends the local priest and falls in love with the town prostitute. Despite the clichés, this is all perfectly acceptable and would make for decent entertainment. However that's about it for the plot, as nothing else really happens. The action scenes, whilst impressive, are brief to say the least, in length and occurrence. For a film about an American hitman trying to escape his demons in Europe, its just not enough. Corbijn certainly didn't set out to create your run-of-the-mill action flick and its obvious he wanted to show us a different kind of action thriller. The Dutch director certainly created a beautiful piece of cinema with The American, but I felt that for 105 minutes, Corbijn got his priorities mixed as beauty seemed to take precedence over story. For example, the director loved to highlight the beautiful Italian landscape and Corbijn repeatedly shot Clooney driving his car around the winding roads, but it just felt too forced to me and a bit overkill on the 'arty' side. Still, a gorgeous film throughout.

However, I can't find much fault with the acting in The American. Clooney was particularly good, perfecting that sense of tension and pain in his character. Clooney may have stolen the show, as he often does as the leading man, but the supporting cast were top-notch as well. Jack's fellow assassin Mathilde, played by Thekla Reuten, was terrific in her scene with Clooney in an Italian cafe. The tension was unbearable - it was probably the best moment of the film - as I found myself on the edge of my seat in anticipation. Violante Placido, who played love interest Clara, achieved her job as the eye candy in The American. Corbijn loves things that look good, so its obvious why he chose Placido to accompany Clooney. Paolo Bonacelli, who played Father Benedetto, was decent enough I suppose, but I don't think he had enough screen time to make much of an impression.

Overall, The American didn't do enough for me to say I would happily go and see it again. I don't mind slow films, in fact I often think some movies could have benefited with a change of pace, but The American was so slow that when you look back on it, not a great deal happened. The film was certainly beautiful, and Corbijn liked to show off his cast and their surroundings, but the plot was sloppy, the pace was exhausting, and there were a few moments when I honestly felt quite bored. To put it simply enough, it just felt empty. I wasn't expecting an action movie by any means, but The American didn't offer me enough thrills and spills to make me a fan.

A More Enjoyable Reality Rating: 5/10

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)

Film: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)

Director: David Yates

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson

The final book in JK Rowling's classic Harry Potter series has now reached cinemas (well, it did a few weeks ago when I went to see it) and I have to admit, it was very, very good. The powers that be at Warner Bros decided to split the final book into two parts for the film adaptation, and it was a good decision, as director David Yates appears intent on including every minute detail from the monstrous book into his film.

Now I have long been a fan of the Potter books, and I've always felt that the films have never done the books justice. That is usually the case when films are created from literature, but there is no finer example than the Harry Potter series. The original film (Philosopher's Stone) was great as it captured the magic of Hogwarts pretty well, and despite the actors being extremely young, I thought they did a good job. I was young at the time too, which probably helped. However, it's been downhill ever since. Chamber of Secrets was awful, but then again that is arguably the weakest book in the series. Prisoner of Azkaban was nothing special, which was a shame as the book was brilliant. I think the movies reached their lowest point with Mike Newell's butchering of Goblet of Fire. What was once my favourite book of the series was ruined by Newell's terrible excuse for a Harry Potter film - it was just wrong in all aspects. It wasn't until David Yates was brought on board that the films began to regain that sense of Potter-ness that had been missing since Philosopher's Stone. Order of the Phoenix was good, especially the battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort towards the end of the film. Unfortunately Half Blood Prince felt a bit flat to me, but it was still a good effort, and a decent film.

But Yates has really resurrected the series with the Deathly Hallows, by far the best film of the series so far. Something as successful and large as Harry Potter can easily be gotten wrong, as the previous films have demonstrated but that is not the case with the Deathly Hallows. For the first time it actually felt like the stars of the show can act, with Radcliffe and Watson enjoying their finest performances on screen to date. Rupert Grint has been the one constant of quality in the previous films, and again he contributes in this film; he IS Ron Weasley, and he captures the character perfectly. I think the biggest reason I've been so against the Harry Potter films in the past can be traced down to one individual: Daniel Radcliffe. I have never been a fan of Mr Radcliffe, as he has never captured the character of Harry in my opinion. To be fair, I expect this is not solely his fault, as the past directors must take some of the blame. I've always felt that Harry has been portrayed as a weaker boy/man in the films than he is in the books, and Radcliffe's wooden portrayal of Harry hasn't helped. However I have to give credit where it is due and I feel that Daniel Radcliffe was rather good indeed in the Deathly Hallows. Hopefully he can keep this up in Part 2, and redeem himself some more.

Overall, the Deathly Hallows was much better than I expected. The book is my favourite in the series and it looks like the films are going to do it justice. Part 1 was an entertaining experience throughout, and goes down as one of my best films of the year. Bring on Part 2 next year!

A More Enjoyable Reality Rating: 8/10

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