The Tale of King George the VI and his unanticipated ascension to King while at the same time overcoming a lifelong speech impediment.

The Kings Speech is one of those acclaimed films that you are expected to love. The story starts with Albert (Colin Firth) giving a speech on behalf of his father King George the V. To say that this doesn’t go well is an understatement “Bertie” has a bit of a stammer and comes across as a weak person completely incapable of leading anything. Enter Lionel Logue(Geoffrey Rush) as a speech therapist who’s unorthodox techniques lead Bertie to confront his insecurities and believe in himself.

Bertie’s insecurities are rightly justified having grown up with a stammer and being the constant source of ridicule, combine that with the fact that he was not the rightful heir to the throne, this unexpected responsibility is thrust upon him only when his brother King Edward the VIII (Guy Pierce)renounces the crown to marry a twice divorced American socialite.

There is a point when Bertie is watching Hitlers Nuremberg rally speech that you truly realize the gravity of his situation, England is on the cusp of going to war with Germany and on one side is Hitler galvanizing his nation through will and charisma on the other is Bertie who couldn’t whip a cappuccino into a froth. History tells us that eventually it will all turn out well in the end but you can’t help but root for Bertie to get his stuff together.

The acting is superb Colin Firth does give an academy award winning performance, Rush is solid as usual and Helena Bonham Carter conceals her inner crazy and delivers a strong performance as Berties better half.

While overall I think it’s being gushed upon more than it deserves (the performances are better than the sum of their parts) its strong cast and even stronger performances make it an enjoyable film.

In the end The Kings Speech is a story that everyone can relate to, a man thrust into an impossible situation who must believe in himself to overcome what is holding him back.

Grade-84

The big screen adaptation of the original radio serial and the television show that introduced America to Bruce Lee.

Seth Rogan stars as “Britt Reid” the irresponsible son of James Reid (Tom Wilkinson) owner and editor of “The Sentinel” newspaper. When James unexpectedly dies, Britt soon finds his world about to change, he finally meets the person who makes his coffee and works on his dad’s extensive auto collection “Kato” (International superstar Taiwanese Musician/Actor Jay Chou). After a prank turns into an exciting session of vigilante justice, Britt and Jay create the persona of the Green Hornet who under the guise of being bad guys will secretly be good guys. Britt’s new role with the Sentinel quickly raises the ire of District Attorney “Scanlon” (David Harbour) while his antics as The Green Hornet garner the attention of Los Angeles crime lord “Chudnofsky” (Christoph Waltz)

The Green Hornet is a surprisingly fresh take on the Super Hero movie not since Kick Ass has a movie been able to include equal doses of both humor and action (Although Kick Ass was of a much darker, less family friendly variety).

Rogen doesn’t quite possess the physique of a crime fighter nor does his history as a spoiled playboy lead one to believe that he would possess the skills needed for vigilante justice. The workaround for this is Kato who does all the fighting that requires any modicum of skill as well as create the tricked out cars known as the “Black Beauty”

Rogen and Chou play well off of each other while trying to figure out what to do in their new roles as the Green Hornet and his sidekick. Aside from finding masked vigilantism fun and exciting they don’t really have a clue as to how to go about it. Christoph Waltz proving that he deserves to be known for more than just his Academy Award winning performance in Inglourious Basterds stars as the main heavy Chudnofsky, the Villian who is irritated that no matter his actions somehow he can’t come across as the imposing figure he wants to be.

Waltz is unexpectedly funny as Chudnofsky constantly updating his persona, Rogen doesn’t disappoint with the laughs and doesn’t try to be something he isn’t, Jay Chou fills the shoes of Kato nicely, kicking the crap out of people in a way that would make Bruce Lee proud; While Cameron Diaz is used to a bare minimum without any of her usual manic cackling.  Although for the life of me I cannot figure out how Hollywood is still trying trick America that she is still hot when not using soft lighting and a long shot.

The Green Hornet is funny without being cheesy with action that delivers, it’s a summertime popcorn movie delivered in January.

Grade-87

Revolving Around Three men who have recently been laid off and the impact it has on them and their families.

While 2009’s “Up in the air” brought us our first real mainstream film with a central plot point being the current economic recession, that was more of an outside view with nary a glimpse into the personal lives after they are let go; The Company Men provides a closer look following three former employees of a large corporation in different positions who are all downsized. Taking a look how each person is affected differently based on their personal situation.

We see Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) as the Sales Manager who is so focused on image he continues  playing golf and driving his Porsche refusing to accept that he must start all over. Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) the guy who put thirty years into the company only now to find out the hard way that his loyalty was not returned, now past his prime and considered too old to get a new job. Gene Mcleary (Tommy Lee Jones) The Executive who helped start the company only to find out that he is now out for not wanting to continue layoffs solely to increase the value of the stock shares. Over the year we see the life of opulence that Bobby has had fall apart, Phil not have the money to provide for his family the way he wants and Gene see the company he helped create change into a company that no longer puts their employees before the bottom line.

Hitting on most points that have been blasted into our heads over the past few years on the evening news, we see the greedy CEO who gets rich while the lowly worker is let go, a company that values its stock shares above all else. And the short sided decision making that will get you through today without thinking about tomorrow.

Affleck, Cooper and Jones all give superb performances, the real drawback of the film is the overly Hollywood ending, When Affleck is outside shouting his power mantra of I will win because I have faith Courage and Enthusiasm! You know everything is going to work out for him and quickly think of how great it would be if that was all it took to change things in the real world. After this scene everyone in his employment outplacement center quickly has a job and all is resolved in the most positive way possible. In a country where we are mostly defined by our profession The Company Men does a fine job exploring this even if the ending seems like it was taken straight from a Disney fairytale.

Grade-82