Movie Review: My Week With Marilyn

My Week With Marilyn

R, 1 hr. 39 min.

Directed By

Simon Curtis

Written By

Adrian Hodges, Colin Clark

Genres

Drama

Main Actors: Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh

Easy on the eyes factor: 10. Beautiful people. Michelle was stunning. Costumes were very well done. And the English landscape, immaculate.

30 Minute Rule: The movie is very slow as it is. What keeps your eyes on the screen is how well Michelle Williams played Marilyn Monroe. You forget it's Michelle over and over. If you have seen any Marilyn video footage or movies like "Some Like It Hot" and "How to Marry a Millionaire", you will appreciate Michelle's portrayal.

Plot:In the early summer of 1956, 23 year-old Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), just down from Oxford and determined to make his way in the film business, worked as a lowly assistant on the set of 'The Prince and the Showgirl'. The film that famously united Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), who was also on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Aurthur Miller (Dougray Scott). Nearly 40 years on, his diary account The Prince, the Showgirl and Me was published, but one week was missing and this was published some years later as My Week with Marilyn - this is the story of that week. When Arthur Miller leaves England, the coast is clear for Colin to introduce Marilyn to some of the pleasures of British life; an idyllic week in which he escorted a Monroe desperate to get away from her retinue of Hollywood hangers-on and the pressures of work.

My Review: I liked the movie, but I loved Michelle Williams. I was not very big on the story. Marilyn Monroe was such a huge icon, I can see why this story would have been interesting 40 years ago. I do not think that the story holds the same interest now. I ask my myself if I would be interested in a movie called "My Week With Madonna". Probably not. And that's why the film doesn't really capture your imagination like the writer wants it to. Colin Clark seems more impress with his week than anyone else. The only reason that the film got any interest at all is because there is no biopic on Marilyn Monroe. No good hollywood films about her.

I wish that someone would do a biography styled film on Marilyn and let Michelle Williams get a re-do. She was nominated for Best Actress in both the Oscars and The Golden Globes. She was magnificent. But that's pretty much where it ends. Colin Clark's story just basically states that Marilyn hated being alone and that she had a fear of abandonment. He happened to be there at the right time. Marilyn loved him because he was there for her and allowed her get through a very tough time. But she didn't love him, the man. She found him to be very endearing and free of judgment. Colin was like any other man that would be smitten by such a famous beautiful woman. He was blinded.

The reason that it was only a "week" was because the writer wish you to believe that Marilyn was very flawed. He was warned in the film by one of her handlers that he should stay clear of Marilyn lest his heart be broken. And it did happen. But as a writer in the first person, I would also like to believe that I personally was not the issue, but that the problem or miss was Marilyn's alone. That she was fickled or defective in some manner. And for that reason, I did not totally embrace the film.

In summation, I do recommend that you see this film. You should not miss Michelle Williams' performance. It's only an hour and a half and I'm sure you've wasted twice the time on far worse films. It's definitely worth a look.

Rating: 5 of 10