REVIEW: 'My Week with Marilyn'

Michelle Williams (in a Golden Globe winning performance) is Marilyn Monroe in this drama based on the memoirs of Colin Clark and his alleged affair with the film icon. Also stars Kenneth Branagh, Emma Watson and Judi Dench. Now playing nationwide, click for movie times and trailer.
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I’ll admit to a having a flicker of doubt about what a Monroe film starring a serious actress would turn out like (potentially excruciatingly overwrought, emotionally). A great performance from Michelle Williams was never in doubt, though, and by narrowing the focus on Monroe to the glimpse seen by naïve film newbie Colin Clark on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl, this adaptation of his diaries allows us to be briefly drawn into Monroe’s orbit and hurled out of it again.

By avoiding following a typical biopic formula, My Week with Marilyn ends up with a great excuse to put this icon back on the big screen where she belongs, and Williams makes the most of her opportunity to play this so much larger than life personality.

With the exception of the suitably wide-eyed Eddie Redmayne as Clark though, Williams is somewhat let down by the film around her. As the most captivating aspect of the picture, it’s no surprise she stands out amongst its other creative elements but sadly the film’s overall tone is as much TV movie as true cinematic experience, lacking the directorial vision or sense of style to elevate this beyond being a sweet piece of lightweight entertainment. In the end, the film doesn’t make as much of its time on the big screen as its subject did but is worth a watch just for Williams and the charming tale it tells.

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