The King’s Speech
Directed by Tom Hooper
A wondrous mix of inspired
direction, breathtaking per-
formances, and a compelling
true human drama, The King’s
Speech is darn close to perfect.
We meet the king of England’s
second son (Colin Firth) in the
1930s, when he reluctantly
visits a no-nonsense speech
therapist (an astonishing
Geoffrey Rush) for treatment
of a persistent stammer. The
task turns epic when the
prince, thrust onto the throne,
must address his nation as it
goes to war—and overcome
not only his speech disability
but also the terrible secrets
that triggered it. Seldom
in film have the currents of
history and the eddies of
human frailty been so gingerly
interwoven.
; We Also Loved: See our editors’
complete list of the 10 best movies
of the year, below.
Best Actor
Colin Firth
The King’s Speech
His heartrending depiction
of a man struggling with a
stammer would be remarkable enough, but Firth invests
the role of King George VI
with searing humanity. Embodying shame, bitterness,
Our
10
Best
Movies
of the
Year
and vulnerability, Firth inhab-
its the man’s entire lifetime,
transmitting it to us with sub-
liminal power. Screen acting
gets no better than this.
; We Also Loved: Michael Caine,
Harry Brown; Michael Douglas,
Solitary Man; Robert Duvall, Get
Low; Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack.
Best Actress
Lesley Manville
Another Year
You want to throttle flighty,
self-involved Mary. Sure, she’s
had a rough time, what with
her husband leaving her when
she’s so needy and all. Yet five
minutes into Leslie Manville’s
X-ray-like performance as
Mary, you can simultaneously understand why the
ex-hubby was drawn to her
(her bubbly vivaciousness,
her hot-blooded yearning for
affection) and why he later
headed for the hills (ditto).
; We Also Loved: Annette
Bening and Julianne Moore,
The Kids Are All Right; Vanessa
Redgrave, Letters to Juliet;
Tilda Swinton, I Am Love.
Best Supporting Actor
John Malkovich
Secretariat
The role of Lucien Laurin, the
veteran trainer who helps
Penny Chenery (Diane Lane)
groom her racehorse for Triple
Crown immortality, is the
ideal channel for Malkovich’s
trademark quirkiness. But the
actor also radiates immense
capability and horse sense.
; We Also Loved: Geoffrey Rush,
The King’s Speech; Kevin Costner,
The Company Men; Bill Murray, Get
Low; Ben Kingsley, Shutter Island.
Best Supporting Actress
Phylicia Rashad
For Colored Girls
Rashad’s character, Gilda,
seems determined to keep
her distance from us. She is
an observer—the apartment
manager who watches the
comings and goings of direc-
tor Tyler Perry’s cast in this
adaptation of an Obie-winning
play. But read Rashad’s face,
and study her eyes—they
brilliantly reflect every broken
heart, every shattered life,
that passes her door.
; We Also Loved: Sissy Spacek,
Get Low; Diane Keaton, Morning
Glory; Melissa Leo, The Fighter;
Gemma Jones, You Will Meet a
Tall Dark Stranger.
Best Director
Danny Boyle
127 Hours
Here’s an insane task: Make
a movie in which the hero
amputates his own arm—and
keep the audience from run-
ning screaming from the the-
ater. Miraculously, seasoned
storyteller Boyle (Slumdog
Millionaire, Trainspotting) pulls
it off (so to speak).
; We Also Loved: Paul Greengrass,
Green Zone; Paul Haggis, The
Next Three Days; Tony Scott,
Unstoppable; John Wells, The
Company Men.
Best Screenwriter
John Wells
The Company Men
GENE (Tommy Lee Jones)
[reviewing proposed layoffs]:
“All I see are people who are
over 50, with enough young
ones thrown in to protect us
against litigation.”
HR HATCHE T GU Y: “We’re not
breaking any laws, Gene.”
GENE: “I guess I always
assumed we were trying for a
higher standard than that.”
; We Also Loved: Joel and Ethan
Coen, True Grit; Paul Haggis,
The Next Three Days; Mike Leigh,
Another Year; David Seidler,
The King’s Speech.
Best Grownup Love Story
Annette Bening
and Julianne Moore
The Kids Are All Right
If love stories are about
people muddling through
the thicket of commitment,
recalibrating their relationship
as life throws its curve balls,
and fiercely protecting those
they love, then it’s hard to
come up with one more real—
and raw—than Bening and
Moore as the “Momses.” The
couple’s happiness is put at
risk when their children seek
out their biological dad.
; We Also Loved: Blythe
Danner and Richard Dreyfuss, The
Lightkeepers; Julianna Margulies
and Andy Garcia, City Island;
Ruth Sheen and Jim Broadbent,
Another Year; Naomi Watts and
Sean Penn, Fair Game.
Best Intergenerational Film
Flipped
Written and directed by Rob Reiner
Defying our kids-know-best
culture, Reiner’s young hero
(Callan McAuliffe) turns to his
PRODUCER: HEATHER ROBBINS; PROP S T YLIS T: S TEPHEN CAPU TO; PHO TO CREDITS FOR FILM S TILLS ON PAGE 87
Best Comedy
City Island
Directed by Raymond De Felitta
Who’s got a secret? Just
about everybody in this
gem. Andy Garcia’s the prison
guard who secretly wants to
act, Julianna Margulies is his
neglected wife who’s growing
a bit too fond of the young
man hubby brought home for
dinner one night—and as for
their kids, well, if Mom and
Dad only knew.…
; We Also Loved: Date Night,
Flipped, RED.
