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In Praise of Geoffrey Rush

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY10ZL9eORgLinnieGayl recently wrote about Colin Firth in The King’s Speech. Now that I have seen the movie as well, I would like to talk about Geoffrey Rush. In The King’s Speech, he plays Australian-born speech therapist Lionel Logue, who successfully treated George VI (played by Colin Firth) for his stammer. If you haven’t seen the film, I highly recommend you do so; it’s a wonderful, intimate depiction of a very troubled man and the friendship that slowly develops with his therapist. It also gives fascinating insights into the family life of the Windsors in the 1930s.

But I want to get back to Geoffrey Rush. For the part of Lionel Logue, he was nominated for an Academy Award, and I for one am really disappointed he did not get it. He is simply marvellous as Lionel! His face is most expressive, and he depicts this rather quirky characters so richly that I immediately wanted to find out more about him.

To my shame, I only remember Geoffrey Rush from Shine and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies (where he is one of my favorite characters). I have since found out he was also in Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love, from which I should have recalled him. Well, after his performance in The King’s Speech, I will definitely keep an eye out for his next movies!

Have you seen The King’s Speech? What did you think of it, and especially of Geoffrey Rush?

– Rike Horstmann[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

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LinnieGayl Kimmel
LinnieGayl Kimmel
Member
03/12/2011 8:38 am

Geoffrey Rush was just wonderful in The King’s Speech! I recently rewatched Shakespeare in Love, and he was wonderful in that as well. I absolutely don’t remember him in Elizabeth; am going to have to rewatch that soon.

AARPat
AARPat
Guest
03/07/2011 1:48 pm

I absolutely loved The King’s Speech, and can’t wait until it comes out in DVD. It’s definitely going into our collection. The entire cast was excellent, and as so many reviewers have said, the movie leaves viewers feeling uplifted and able to conquer any problem.

Firth is brilliant at showing both the king’s strengths and weaknesses without having to say a word about them, much less talk endlessly about them. And Rush uses his twinkling eyes to their best advantage, conveying hope and support while visually saying that the king’s problem isn’t the end of the world. The biggest surprise for me was Helena Carter, whom I’ve always thought was a light weight actress. Not so!

But speaking of Geoffrey Rush, I think his best films are Shakespeare in Love (his best recurring line: “It’s a mystery!”) and The Tailor of Panama. He’s absolutely wonderful as a tailor caught up in political intrigue and way, way over his head. The film has Pierce Brosnan and Jamie Lee Curtis, both of whom are excellent in it. And as long as I’m riffing, I think Brosnan’s best film is The Thomas Crown Affair.

Leigh AAR
Leigh AAR
Guest
03/07/2011 12:09 pm

I haven’t seen it, but now that you speak so highly of it, I will be sure to check it out.