It is a truth universally acknowledged that I've always been a Colin Firth fan. I know that may sound hyperbolic, but I kid you not. I first saw the 1987 version of The Secret Garden when I was about 4, and, at the very end, a dashing adult version of crippled Colin Firth as Colin Creevey comes back the the garden during WWI; he proposes to Mary Lennox and ruins all other men for a very young me. While this is an obvious liberty taken with the book, and his time onscreen may have been 5 minutes at the most, Colin made a lasting impression. Most Austen-aholics know him as the best Fitzwilliam Darcy ever seen on the silver screen, and I couldn't agree more whole-heartedly. He makes being a regency hottie seem so easy and has become the ultimate Darcy by which all are compared.
But Colin is more than a pretty face; the man can act! His most recent role as King George VI in The King's Speech was nothing short of spectacular. I laughed, I cried, and I basked in Colin's superb performance. He was sheer perfection. As someone who stuttered when she was younger, I was reminded of all of my anger and exhaustion with my speech issues, and I wasn't trying to guide a nation through a war like Bertie. You know a performance is great when the audience forgets they aren't actually in the story. For the last 30 minutes of the film, I held my breath. My stomach churned; my eyes streamed with tears. I was a wreck, and it was all because of Colin Firth being amazing. Yet, as intensely wrought as the drama was, Colin was funny. I couldn't believe that I laughed almost as much as I cried. Don't just take my word for it; people applauded in the movie theater I was in, and friends in Colorado and Missouri said the same thing happened at their viewings. Seems that no one needs convincing about this sweet film's merits.
Colin Firth will sweep this awards season, and it couldn't go to a more deserving actor. While he'll always be Darcy to me, he deserves every accolade that come his way for this amazing performance. Natalie Portman may be the darling this awards season, but I'm thinking strictly of Colin when the Oscars roll around.
