My Week with Marilyn

source: My Week with Marilyn

This film is about a young man working on the set of a film production. His life gets turned upside down for a week as he befriended Marilyn Monroe. "My Week with Marilyn" is a beautiful film. Michelle Williams truly shines with her complex portrayal of Marilyn Monroe. When Marilyn is not acting, she is so enchanting, beautiful and seductive. Every wink, every move and every word is full of grace and charm. When Marilyn is on set, she becomes another person entirely, and this is portrayed remarkably well. She becomes almost unlikable when she is in front of the camera. Eddie Redmayne is also convincing as a young man charmed by Marilyn. He appears genuine and uncalculating; encouraging Marilyn when no one around her supports her. It makes this brief relationship so beautiful.

This film is nothing special at all. Its very well cast, especially Williams, Dench and Brannagh as well as the great supporting cast. However, there is very little plot and the story is predictable in every way. Its just a very average and forgettable film.

Saw pre-release screening. Never believed that Michelle Williams was Marilyn, which was distracting, always looked like she was an actress portraying Marilyn. The subtext of a woman whose main attribute is her sexuality, who only achieves based on her attraction to men, is sublimated to endlessly dull scenes of a vapid actress trying to recite lines on a movie set, with some lackluster comic relief tacked on gratuitously. Eddie Redmayne was really good, and he should be someone to keep an eye on. But this film never seems to get going--any film based on MM's life should be sexy, shouldn't it? The end just kind of dumps onto the screen because there is no place else to go. Should have been a lot better, maybe they can tighten it up with some editing.