The odds on Colin Firth grabbing the best actor Oscar shortened Sunday as Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech" picked up the top audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival.Firth was edged out last year at the Academy Awards with his "A Single Man" nomination. But his star turn in the uplifting British drama as King George VI will give Firth bragging rights as the awards season gets underway post-Toronto.
Toronto festival director Piers Handling branded "The King's Speech" one of his "personal favorites" in this year's lineup, and praised the performances of Firth and fellow actors Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush.
"It is a very, very moving story," he said of Hooper's portrait of the father of Queen Elizabeth II.
"The King's Speech" will look to follow a host of TIFF titles like "Precious," "Slumdog Millionaire," "No Country for Old Men," "Crash," and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" that rode goodwill from Toronto with the top audience award trophy to Oscar success.
The 2010 class of Oscar contenders coming out of Toronto also includes Ben Affleck's "The Town," John Cameron Mitchell's "Rabbit Hole" and past Oscar winners and their latest films, including Darren Aronofky's "Black Swan," starring Natalie Portman, and Danny Boyle's survival film "127 Hours," which stars James Franco. MORE
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