My Week With Marilyn Review

The fact-based My Week With Marilyn recounts young Colin Clark's (Eddie Redmayne) memories of the filming of The Prince and the Showgirl, starring the industry's top movie star, sexpot Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), and its foremost Shakespearean actor, Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh). Colin served as Olivier's personal assistant and third assistant director on the 1957 film.

Olivier, who was married to Gone With the Wind star Vivien Leigh (Julia Ormond) at the time, is infatuated with Monroe and casts her in his directing effort, a light comedy about the stuffy Prince Regent of Carpathia who falls for a sultry American showgirl. But whatever lusty inclinations Sir Larry had quickly disappear when Marilyn's diva ways, erratic personal behavior, and entourage of hangers-on and handlers (including Captain America vets Toby Jones and Dominic Cooper) drive him crazy.

None of this matters much to 23-year-old Colin, who has fallen in love for the first time and with none other than the world's biggest movie star. Marilyn has grown fond of Colin, despite being recently married to America's leading playwright Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott). Colin's devotion to Marilyn, a deeply troubled soul and serial heartbreaker, also trips up his budding romance with a pretty costuming assistant (Emma Watson). Colin's inevitable path to heartbreak is peppered with the types of amazing memories and life experiences most young men making their way in the world could only imagine.

Michelle Williams delivers an Oscar-worthy turn as Marilyn Monroe, making the iconic actress her own rather than merely doing an impersonation. This is the first film about Marilyn and the first performance by an actress playing her that convinces you she was a real person with genuine emotions, flaws and needs. Williams expertly captures the starlet's legendary insecurities, vulnerability and almost pathological neediness, revealing a deeply troubled woman who still managed to brighten any room that she walked into. Williams may not look much like Monroe, but like Kurt Russell's Elvis she captures the essence of this icon, making her real and her mystique comprehensible.

My Week With Marilyn Trailer

Branagh is similarly excellent as another larger-than-life screen figure, Olivier; it would be a shame if he isn't at least nominated for an Oscar for his serio-comic turn as a great actor struggling to deal with a star striving to become a great actress. Redmayne manages to not get blown off the screen by either of these indomitable leads, giving Colin enough spark to not be seen as merely a cipher or the proverbial "eyes of the audience." Judi Dench shines as an elderly actress who is sweet and dignified enough to help calm Marilyn's crippling on-set fears by (falsely) blaming herself for the actress' many fumbles.

As directed by Simon Curtis, My Week With Marilyn is a breezily-paced behind the scenes look at old Hollywood that, despite its handsome production values, often feels like a very classy TV movie bolstered by Oscar-worthy performances. We get enough revelations to understand what makes Monroe and Olivier tick, but the film itself feels fluffy and ultimately inconsequential. Still, it's a fun look back at old school filmmaking and how consuming first love (even with a movie star) can be.

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