Monday at the Movies: Coveting Colin Firth

Let's take a moment to revel in the handsomeness of Colin Firth.

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He is wonderful, isn't he?  I was inspired to write this post because my daughter has lately taken to period movies.  She was talking about how much she loved the Kiera Knightley version of "Pride and Prejudice", and I told her "Oh, no no my child.  You must behold the Colin Firth version.  You haven't lived until you see him in his white shirt.  You will never know a Mr. Darcy quite like this one."

For anyone who hasn't seen the BBC version of this movie, made in 1995, you absolutely must.  It is a time commitment for sure, with it running about five hours, but you will sit there and love it and wish there were more.  The acting is phenomenal beyond that of Firth.  Lizzy (played by Jennifer Ehle, who by the way played Lionel Logue's wife in "The King's Speech") is smart, warm and beautiful, and the support characters playing Lydia and Mrs. Bennet are priceless.  The highlight however, is one scene where Mr. Darcy dives into the river to retrieve something and comes out all wet and soaked to the skin in his white shirt.  Lord give me strength.

Firth is one of those actors that has appeared in everything, and only once you start digging through IMDb do you realize how pervasive he really is.  And how many of his movies I HAVEN'T seen yet. 

Of course, his shining moment (besides the white shirt moment) was his portrayal of the stuttering King George VI in "The King's Speech".  It pleases me to see him getting the recognition he has always deserved.  It was a phenomenal movie, one that my kids loved as well.  

 

But he was also precious in the Bridget Jones movies, as one of the possible daddies in "Mamma Mia", or even the spurned husband in "The English Patient". When my husband was flipping through the channels the other night, he yelled "I didn't remember that Colin Firth was in Nanny McFee!".  Yes indeed he was.

If I were going to make Firth my next cinematic project, which is sounding more and more like a great idea, I would line up my Netflix Q as follows:

1.  A Single Man (2009)
2.  Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003)
3.  The Turn of the Screw (1999)
4.  Love Actually (2003)

Also, for the to do list, he has a movie coming out in December called
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" in which he co-stars with the also much-loved Gary Oldman (Harry Potters, The Dark Knight, Immortal Beloved, Dracula) and Tom Hardy (Inception, Warrior).  This movie is based on the novel of the same name, and is a Cold War thriller.  I almost can't stand the waiting. 

So help me out here.  What other movies are a must for my Firth-a-thon?