Movie review: My Week with Marilyn
INTOXICATINGLY beautiful, charming with lashes of old school glamour, My Week With Marilyn is a delight from start to finish.
In this no business like show business tale, Simon Curtis follows the premise that Monroe was a movie star who wanted to be a great actress and Sir Laurence Olivier was a great actor who wanted to be a movie star.
The film the pair work together on, The Prince And The Showgirl, proves a vehicle in which either are able achieve their goals.
Tragedy waits in the wings.
The film is based upon two memoirs by then 23-year-old Colin Clark, the first a journal of the shoot and the second his account of his romantic dalliance with Monroe.
Part coming of age story, part culture-clash comedy about the difference in actors from Britain and Hollywood and part glimpse at the inner workings of one of Hollywood's most iconic figures, it is light-weight but emotionally charged.
It's a bare boned plot but the emotional drive and charming glamour more than fleshes out the film.
The strength of such a movie pins of the impersonation of its lead and Michelle Williams absolutely nails this role.
Portraying the three faces of Monroe in popular culture: exuberant actress, vulnerable, needy little girl lost and memorizing sexpot, Williams is superb at every turn.
She sheds the skin of her own mannerisms and completely and magnetically embodies Monroe.
No one lets this film down from the superb cast of English actors including Judi Dench and Emma Watson to the stellar performance by Kenneth Branagh.
My Week With Marilyn, is at moments hilarious, others touching, it's a sweet and light affair.
It may not be a hard-hitting biographical drama but it is a beautiful film that reminds you of the glamour and joy a movie can bring.
My Week With Marilyn
Stars: Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh
Director: Simon Curtis
Rated: M
Verdict: Four stars
