Customer Reviews
By
Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM) (REAL NAME)
The real Marilyn Monroe was an inch and a half taller than Michelle Williams, a significant difference when one considers that there is no way Williams could have replicated the voluptuous physicality of Monroe's presence. Yet, the young actress does something quite unexpected in capturing the essence of Monroe's wounded psyche for all its frailties and doing a convincing job of conveying the public Marilyn for all her breathy sensuality in this modest 2011 showbiz tale. Directed by British TV veteran Simon Curtis and written by Adrian Hodges, the film depicts a minor piece of motion picture lore based on the memoirs of Colin Clark, who was a lowly "third assistant director" during the production of the Ruritanian romance, The Prince and the Showgirl. The mostly forgotten 1957 movie marked Monroe's attempt at being taken seriously as an actress in a well-publicized collaboration with Sir Laurence Olivier just after she married playwright Arthur Miller.The story really begins with Monroe's arrival in London to start filming. Fully devoted to Lee Strasberg's school of Method acting, she constantly searches for her character's motivation even within the context of a soufflé-light drawing room comedy. With sychophanti c acting coach Paula Strasberg constantly by her side, she is chronically tardy on the set keeping her distinguished British company of thespians waiting for hours. Monroe's already renowned insecurities become heightened by Olivier's abrasive impatience as not only her co-star but her director. As a witness to her undeniable aura, the young Colin becomes smitten as he is assigned to be her protector when she begins to bond with him after Miller returns to New York. This leads to a getaway visiting Windsor Castle and Eton College before a comparatively more confident Monroe returns to the set. The film is bookended by Williams' fearlessly entertaining takes on the Monroe classics, Irving Berlin's "Heat Wave" and Harold Arlen's "That Old Black Magic" (although completely out of their original context).Williams tackles the impossible with her empathetic performance as Monroe, and she manages it with aplomb without resorting to outright impersonation. One deliberate exception i s the enchanting little dance she does as her character in the movie within the movie - she mimics Monroe perfectly in those few moments. Eddie Redmayne plays the callow Colin to the best of the screenplay's workmanlike limitations since the only hint of complexity is breaking the heart of the young costumer played in a fetching manner by an underused Emma Watson. As Olivier, Kenneth Branagh captures the ego-driven bluster and measured speech cadence of the legendary actor, but he is also underserved by Hodges' script. Judi Dench again steals her scenes as a fellow scene-stealer, Dame Sybil Thorndike. Barely making a ripple in the story are Julia Ormond as Olivier's then-wife, Vivien Leigh, with just a hint given of her descent into madness, and Dougray Scott as a taciturn Miller. For all its flaws, the film is worth seeing for Williams' mesmerizing work, for example, the scene where she romps through the English countryside conveying Monroe's sense of freedom in a way that recalls a similarly poignant scene in The Misfits.
By
Robert G. Splaine Jr. "patsfanrob" (Phoenix) (REAL NAME)
An aspiring young filmmaker spent a short time in 1956 on the set of a Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe film as an assistant director. He became close to Marilyn as many men had, and ended up a key figure in the production. Marilyn Monroe was notoriously difficult to work with in Hollywood and that is well-dramatized here. Michelle Williams IS Marilyn Monroe in this one and her performance highlights a realistic look at the difficulties that Marilyn had with trying to be a serious Hollywood actress while dealing with her insecurities and a prescription drug h abit. This film was a pleasant surprise and another terrific movie to see during the holiday season.
By
Miles D. Moore (Alexandria, VA USA) (VINE VOICE) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
Simon Curtis' "My Week with Marilyn" tells all in the title. It's the story of Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), an aristocratic, well-ccnnected young Englishman, and how he had a brief fling with Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) while serving as a production assistant on the film "The Prince and the Showgirl." The film, though very well-made , is pretty much a trifle, except for the astonishing performances of Williams and of Kenneth Branagh as Laurence Olivier.Seeing production stills before I saw the movie, I didn't know how Williams was going to bring off playing Monroe; with her round, girlish face, she looks nothing like Monroe, and being dressed, made up and coiffed in full Marilyn drag only emphasizes her lack of resemblance. But this turned out to make no difference, for Williams becomes Monroe to the life, capturing her incandescence, her crippling insecurities, her manipulative flirtatiousness. If there is a more consistently impressive young American actress than Michelle Williams, I don't know who it might be.Like Williams, Branagh bears no physical resemblance whatever to the world-famous actor he's playing, though his resume makes him a natural to play Olivier (even down to his directing and starring in his own versions of "Hamlet" and "Henry V"). Branagh nicely captures Olivier's magnificence of v oice and gesture, but even more, he captures something of Olivier's soul. Watch Branagh's close-ups, and particularly his eyes; on several occasions his eyes have that wild, imperious look that Olivier alone had, and no other actor in cinematic history.I was less impressed with Eddie Redmayne; he was likable, but essentially just Richie Cunningham with a posh accent. The rest of the players, though, are superb. I was particularly gratified to see Judi Dench playing Dame Sybil Thorndike as a fount of thespian and worldly wisdom. Emma Watson, Derek Jacobi, Zoe Wanamaker, Philip Jackson, Toby Jones, Dominic Cooper and Julia Ormond also acquit themselves well. "My Week with Marilyn" is well worth seeing as a splendid showing for British Rep, as well as one American interloper.
By
D. Hinson "godoylego" (atlanta, ga usa) (REAL NAME)
First off, I'm a movie lover, but not really much of a critic. My critiques of films rely almost solely upon how entertained I was. I believe I have an eye for what is good on-screen, although I can't really pick things apart to discern if a thing was off, such as the direction. That being said, I could not have been more captivated watching Michelle Williams portrayal of the different facets of the iconic Marilyn Monroe. It's not really that she looks like her--I don't really think that she does--but more that she embodies the role with such grace and nuance as to shed light on Marilyn's evolving personalities so unselfconsciously that one suspends disbelief while watching her play the seductive temptress, the insecure woman-child, and the lonely and lost soul who's reaching out for anyone or anything that might save her. She does all this with humor, candor, honesty, and most importantly, immense compassion and empathy for her subject. Michelle's performance made me look again at Marilyn, an endeavor I started with the stunning release last year of the collection of her writings, "Fragments".The supporting cast here is amazing. Kenneth Branagh as Olivier is a revelation. Again, I could not have imagined him in that role, but he is absolute perfection as Olivier. Judi Dench brings her usual emotional weight and sweetness to her portrayal of Dame Sybil Thorndike, and Eddie Redmayne is pitch perfect as the besotted Colin, who wrote the book detailing his time with MM. I cannot say enough good about this movie. For people fascinated with movies, Marilyn, or just the trappings of the human heart, this movie is a wonder. Michelle Williams is the main reason. I found that, as with Monroe, one's eyes stay glued to her in every frame in which she appears--in fact, I actually missed her when she was not on the screen. She gives a star-making performance that may well garner her the Oscar, in my estimation. It will certainly be a game changer for her pick of roles...she'll never be seen the same way again after the due she's paid Marilyn in this wonderful treat of a movie.
By
Turfseer (New York, N.Y.)
*** This review may contain spoilers ***Rating: 3.5Colin Clark was only 24 years old when he served as '3rd Assistant Director' on the 1957 film 'The Prince and The Showgirl' starring Marilyn Monroe and Lawrence Olivier. Clark kept a diary while on the set and later published it, along with a memoir of his purported experiences with Monroe. It's notable that Clark didn't seem overly impressed with the Hollywood icon, when he wrote in his di ary, but when the memoir came out, his view of her apparently had changed to much more 'favorable'.For those unfamiliar with 'My Week with Marilyn', it provides a glimpse at Marilyn Monroe at the height of her popularity, a few months after she married famed playwright, Arthur Miller, in 1956. This was a chance for Marilyn to show her chops, pitted against stage legend Olivier, who in turn was given the reins to direct, 'The Prince and the Showgirl', a light weight comedy with the "most popular woman in the world", in the starring role. Dougray Scott is a dead ringer for Miller but his character is only on screen very briefly, as Miller decided to go back home right before the shoot, as he was having trouble putting up with all of Marilyn's mood changes. Judi Dench is also too briefly seen as Dame Sybil Thorndike, who plays an older aristocratic woman in the film within a film.Michelle Williams does a very nice job conveying the many moods of the starlet. When Monroe first c ame to the set of 'The Prince and the Showgirl', she was intimidated by Olivier, who was not impressed with her coach, Paula Strausberg, an advocate of Method Acting. While Kenneth Branagh doesn't look at all like Olivier, he ably conveys his contempt for both Marilyn's lack of professionalism and 'The Method' itself, as he was convinced that actors could never be spontaneous when utilizing such a technique. Olivier is seen warning Clark that he should not be fooled by Monroe's "little girl lost" routine. Not only was Monroe habitually late on the set but we learn of a more deep-seated insecurity, which she attempted to mask by imbibing huge amounts of prescription medication.Williams also does well in conveying Marilyn Monroe's charm. Most of the film's narrative is about how Colin Clark acts as her buffer, 'protecting' her against the various people she felt assailed by, including her business partner, Milton Greene, who attempted to bar Clark from spending time with her, during the production. Clark appears to fall completely for Monroe especially after she continuously flirts with him. In one scene, Monroe encourages Clark to join him skinny-dipping in a lake, off the beaten path, in the English countryside; later, she invites him into her bed for some heavy duty cuddling.While entertaining, the film suffers from the limits of its venue. We pretty much realize that the stakes aren't that high here to begin with--a young man takes a soft fall, after he realizes that his infatuation was just that--an infatuation! The 'dark moment' of the second Act arrives when Marilyn has her big meltdown, which threatens to shut down the entire production. All's well that ends when, when Marilyn wakes up and wants to go home for her mother-in-law's chicken soup, back in Brooklyn.Eddie Redmayne may be a tad too old to play Colin Clark, but is still fine as the impressionable gopher. Emma Watson is seen for a short time in a throwaway part as Colin's love int erest, perhaps the least interesting role in the entire film. There are other players in short bits here, that add to the film's overall verisimilitude.Perhaps the most telling scene in the film is when Clark asks Marilyn to give up her career and run away with him. She graciously declines by replying that she enjoys her life. If that's the case, why does she spend so much time popping pills and generally being so down on herself? Olivier sees her as a lot shrewder than many of her handlers and sycophants, who appear to indulge and enable her. This is perhaps one aspect of Marilyn's character, the shrewd businesswoman, that is not explored very fully in this film--however, since we're only getting a glimpse of what she was like during a limited time period, such an exploration may be a bit beyond the scope of this overall project.'My Week with Marilyn' sometimes borders on hagiography. Whatever talent Marilyn Monroe did have, it seems that the many men who 'fell in love' wit h her, fell more for an image than a real person. I wonder if she could have done as well in the acting department, if she wasn't completely addicted to all her pills. Nonetheless, here, Michelle Williams does a fine job in serving up enough aspects of Marilyn Monroe's character to keep us interested until the end. Sadly Colin Clark is no longer with us, but while he was alive, he must have looked back on those heady days of his youth, as perhaps the greatest experience of his life. 'My Week With Marilyn' allows us to take that journey too, and a good part of it rings true.
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