Michelle Williams at her best! – ‘My Week With Marilyn’ Movie Review

Thanks to Roadshow Films, we had the chance to see Simon Curtis’s My Week With Marilyn, before its Australian cinematic release. This is our review of the film – but as usual – no matter what we say; we recommend that you still go to your local cinema and see the film because: There is no better critic than yourself!

My Week With Marilyn, tells the untold story of one of the most famous movie stars divas, trying to capture a more intimate look at the woman, behind the iconic character of Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams).

The story is based in the book by documentary filmmaker, Colin Clark (played by Eddie Redmayne) which tells about a love affair that he claimed to had with Monroe in 1956, who was recently married with Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott) while filming “The Prince and the Showgirl.”

My Week With Marilyn, is a film that moves away from the typical biographic tale, taking another point of view while approaching to the character of Marilyn Monroe, focusing on her feelings and her “human” side that makes her to fall in love, suffer and laugh.

The film is extremely well done in terms of art and photography direction, with a great recreation of the society surrounding Monroe’s golden years, with a good care in the costume design and color balance of the film with some gold and grey tones around contrasting a bit more, giving you the feeling of an old but modern tale, making all on-screen looks good and period-appropriate.

Michelle Williams is magnificent, as Monroe and looks like a reincarnation of the diva on-screen, she is just outstanding and a perfect choice for the role, taking over the character, talking, moving and even looking exactly as Monroe, in what we think is her best performance in her career so far.
Co-star Eddie Redmayne on the other hand is a good complement for Williams, and delivers a good performance as well, with some very tense moments especially when he is about to lose her. Actor and director Kenneth Branagh, also present on the film as Sir Laurence Olivier delivers a great antagonist type character for the film. Emma Watson (Harry Potter Series), jumps from Hogwarts to a mature role in the film showing the great acting skills she has making us forget her Harry Potter past.

The main issue with the film is when Williams is not on it, because the movie can’t be supported by the secondary actors, especially if you have a lead actress at her best, making the subplots a bit confusing or even boring.

My Week With Marilyn, is a film that you might love or hate depending on what you are looking to see, because the movie is not a comedy and is not a total drama, and there is no probe that this story really happens as the author claims. However, is worth to see thinking on it as a fiction story based on the iconic diva, that will make you stick to the film most of the time thanks to the performance of an impressive Michelle Williams.

My Week With Marilyn opens in Australia next February 16