My Week With Marilyn

Written by Jonathan Jacobs

My Week With Marilyn is absolutely lovely. Despite my initial skepticism about the casting of Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe (to live up to her legend is no simple task dear readers) I find myself enthralled. This movie is so much fun it is hard to divert one's eyes from the screen. Take a bathroom break and risk missing everything! Treat this theater visit like a trip to the doctor's office. Do not eat or drink beforehand so as to not risk voiding during the procession! Inanities aside, Michelle Williams, Sir Kenneth Branagh (my favorite) and Eddie Redmayne are pure gold. Together or apart it is clear they are worth a fortune.

Writers Adrian Hodges (screenwriter) and Colin Clark (Clark wrote The Prince and the Showgirl and Me) have chosen the perfect moment in Marilyn's life about which to compose a script. Marilyn (Williams) is in England to work alongside the eminent Sir Lawrence Olivier (Branagh). Marilyn is an international sensation as is Olivier, but their temperaments and approach to their acting craft could not be more diametrically opposed. They clash heads as Olivier is frustrated and broody and a perfectionist. Monroe fluctuates from dark depression and self-reproach to complete and utter joyfulness and exuberance. The great American playwright (famously known for his brief marriage to the actress) Arthur Miller has joined her with the expectation of smooth sailing and not the emotional shipwreck he encounters.

Before Olivier and Monroe begin filming The Prince and the Showgirl, young man from an affluent background (Redmayne as the impressionable Colin Clark) has joined the film crew as the third Assistant Director. Marilyn's acting coach has also joined the entourage to encourage and protect the temperamental actress. One additional and critical plot point is the backdrop of this production. Olivier's wife (Julia Ormond as Vivian Leigh) has played the Showgirl in the theater but her husband has chosen a sexier and far younger actress to assume the role his movie. Vivian is crestfallen and a little bitter.

No matter what her erratic behavior, men flock to Marilyn and fall in love at the drop of a dime. As she goes through fits of trauma and self-doubt (Olivier is cruel and abusive to her on set), Colin swoops in and tries to comfort and guard her. The upstart young man is simultaneously pursuing a costume designer/seamstress (Emma Watson as Lucy). After his initially hot pursuit of Lucy, at the first sign of recognition from Marilyn, Colin is smitten and his attention is diverted. During the film Marilyn puts on a whirlwind show for the young man. He is privy to her defeatism, her vulnerabilities, her impetuosity and particularly to her sultry sexuality. His relationship with Marilyn poisons his reputation on the set of the film and is questioned by nearly everyone.

The brilliance of Simon Curtis' direction is that Marilyn is hardly ever filmed alone or with deep inspection. Mostly, My Week With Marilyn (as the title implies) is about how others perceived her in all of her glory and embarrassment. Marilyn could seduce almost anyone. She could put on her charming face and put on a show that would spellbind any man in her proximity. The question on people's minds (those newly introduced to Marilyn) and those that grew up with her (figuratively speaking) is who was Marilyn Monroe? I Simon Curtis' film we see the actress in all of her gradations but do we ever find out anything about the person, the actress, the woman, the legend that was Marilyn Monroe? Curtis is complimentary of Ms. Monroe and Branagh pronounces her a natural goddess of acting, but these are just extraneous words to help moviegoers feel wonderful about this film.

British actors are articulate, well-practiced, and have a flare for the dramatic. They are conquering Hollywood and the international film circuit by storm. While American actors are mired in death and profanity and base sexuality, most Brits belong to classier distinctions. One sentence from Judy Dench is worth ten from almost any other actor. On a sidenote, it is interesting to observe Emma Watson outside of the Harry Potter world. Her career has so much potential both for success or for self-destruction. Yet somehow, in this film she simply spun her wheels and did not move forward one drop. Branagh is ironically a fabulous Sir Lawrence Olivier. And he should be. Branagh assumed the mantle for Olivier as the next great Shakespearean actor of our time. They are two of a kind and their careers have been so closely linked that Branagh must have adored playing this role and it shows. His panache and devotion to the character is off the chart flaring.

Even with a team of makeup artists Michelle Williams may not entirely resemble Ms. Monroe and her voice may not ever sound as sultry and as devouring as the person whom she is portraying, but that really does not matter when one takes into consideration how stellar this movie is. Williams has a beautiful body, a delicious smile, and she studied Marilyn's movements, nervousness, moodiness, mania, and especially her overwhelming sex appeal. William's Monroe is eye-poppingly exciting and intoxicating. Not having grown up idolizing Monroe, I can understand (based on Williams' performance) why the actress was so special and so stirring to so many people. Her ability to turn on the gas as quickly as she slams on the brakes of Marilyn's bipolar emotionality is surely worth of the annals of versatility. My Week With Marilyn is a wonderful movie that it is hard not to enjoy and to smile throughout. Now this is a motion picture!