MICHELLE WILLIAMS
IS AMAZING
AS
MARILYN MONROE
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Starring: Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh, Julia Ormond, Dougray Scott, Emma Watson
Directed by: Simon Curtis (II)
Genre: Adaptation, Drama, and Art/Foreign
Running Time: 1 hr. 36 min.
 Release Date; November 23rd, 2011 (limited)
MPAA Rating: R for some language
Distributors: The Weinstein Company
By: John M Delia, Jr.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to meet someone you admire very much and this someone is the rage of the whole world? Most everyone has had visions of meeting some famous person that they idol, but what you see in My Week With Marilyn will bring those wonders alive. It’s a true story that makes me happy to see her come alive again on the screen.
My Week with Marilyn is about Colin Clark, a young Englishman who has his heart set on getting a job in the movie business. Although not the choice of occupation by his wealthy parents, they set up an introduction to Sir Laurence Olivier who has been commissioned to direct and star in a movie. Impressing Olivier he gets on the crew as 3rd Assistant Director on the film. He’s very happy even though it’s just a ‘go-for’ job, but when Marilyn Monroe gets the co-starring lead in the film, he becomes overjoyed. He gets assigned to make sure she gets to the set each day and his whole life becomes a dream. When Marilyn starts to get moody from over medication, it looks like Colin is headed for a nightmare.
Michelle Williams is an excellent choice to play Marilyn Monroe. She does a fantastic job with her portrayal of all Marilyn’s intricate features and persona. From the pouting innocent woman to her drinking and drugs Williams has her nailed as one of the most iconic people I love to watch. Michelle puts it all together becoming one of my favorite movie screen goddesses, Marilyn Monroe.
Eddie Redmayne, portrays Colin Clark the upper-class 20 year-old who gets a chance to get ‘close’ to Marilyn in the short week of her shoot. Eddie does a fine job making Colin believable in his insurmountable task of making Marilyn happy while she’s making a film in England. Using his youthful British tack and graciousness he made me a believer that a special interlude that the real Clark had was real.
Kenneth Branagh, has huge shoes to fill playing Sir Lawrence Olivier and does so with whit, charm, and a strong personality. He performs the part perfectly and shows a side of Olivier that most people have never seen. With his character directing and acting you get to see the frustration he had dealing with Marilyn’s intricate personality first hand during the filming of “The Prince and the Showgirlâ€.
It was an enjoyable story that depicts Marilyn’s troubles and joys as we come to know her and the reason for her demise. It also gives you a great view of how a film was produced back in those days, and why the wealthy sometime refer to it as the ‘circus’.
My Week With Marilyn in my opinion is fantastic and it will keep you intrigued throughout the entire hour and 36 minutes.