Review: My Week With Marilyn (**1/2)

Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), an employee of Sir Laurence Olivier's (Kenneth Branagh), documents the tense interaction between Olivier and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) during production of The Prince and the Showgirl.


Michelle Williams makes a great attempt at capturing the essence of the magnetic Marilyn. There are moments when you could imagine it was the real thing - unfortunately, they are fleeting moments. Monroe was a complex figure and the portrayal here attempts to address it - not necessarily successfully. Kenneth Branagh too gives a top class performance - believable, but not quite as waspish as I imagine Olivier was in real life. It was Monroe's ability to play to an audience - specifically to play to the lens of a camera that is absent in this movie biopic. This production could have been about any actress - not one who truly was exceptional. Nevertheless, a fair attempt at depicting a real story.