Critic’s Pick: ‘The King’s Speech’

Sometimes what a filmmaker gives you is more performance piece than movie, and so it is with Tom Hooper’s delightful “The King’s Speech.” A set piece that could just as easily have found life on stage, it is the story of a friendship between commoner and king born of necessity, just not the one you originally believe. Colin Firth, following last year’s exceptional “A Single Man,” is back with another Oscar-worthy turn as the man who would be king, not because he craves it but because it is his destiny despite a crippling stammer. Geoffrey Rush, in a performance that is as remarkable as it is charming, possibly the best of his long, distinguished career, is the royal’s unconventional, Aussie last-ditch chance. A friendship is born, and we see two lives transformed. That makes “The King’s Speech” satisfying in an old-school way — it counts on a simple story of a man trying to become a better one, and on perfectly drawn performances by Firth and Rush, to take us out of our day-to-day for just a little while. And that, my friends, is priceless.

—Betsy Sharkey