My Week with Marilyn Released 25 November 2011 Director Simon Curtis Starring Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Dominic Cooper, Emma Watson, Julia Ormond, Dougray Scott Writer(s) Adrian Hodges Producer(s) David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein Origin United Kingdom, United States Running Time 96 Minutes Genre Drama Rating 15A

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She wants to be loved by you!

Marilyn Monroe was certainly one of the most iconic stars of the twentieth century. There has been no end of writing about her life and her controversial death but when it comes to portraying her on the screen, the results have been pretty mixed. Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd took a shot at portraying her in the somewhat odd TV movie Norma Jean & Marilyn. Other than that it’s been slim pickings. So how will Michelle Williams get on?

In the last few years Williams has emerged from teen TV show Dawson’s Creek to prove herself one of the finest young actresses around. She has mainly worked in independent cinema taking roles in offbeat productions like The Station Agent, Wendy and Lucy and Prozac Nation. She was also Oscar-nominated for her roles in Brokeback Mountain and Blue Valentine. However taking on such a well-known personality as Marilyn Monroe is quite a challenge for any actress.

This isn’t a biopic however; it is based on two memoirs by Colin Clark, The Prince, The Showgirl and Me and My Week with Marilyn. It tells the story of the filming of The Prince and the Showgirl in the summer of 1956. Colin (Eddie Redmayne) is a posh kid who wants to make it in the movies so using his family contacts he gets a lowly job on the new film from Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh). Olivier is directing and acting with Marilyn Monroe (Williams), the biggest star in the world at the time.

Monroe arrives in England amid much fanfare with her new husband, the playwright Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott) in tow. However the production proves to be quite stressful for Olivier as Monroe is constantly late and her behaviour on set is erratic. She is surrounded with an entourage include her producer Milton Greene (Dominic Cooper) and her acting coach Paula Strasberg (Zoë Wanamaker). The old school Olivier is driven to distraction trying to direct her and it’s a constant source of friction between them.

When Miller heads back to America after a row, Monroe becomes depressed and increasingly dependent on the various pills that Greene gives her. The wide-eyed Colin endears himself to Monroe though and he finds himself cast as a mediator between Olivier and Monroe. However Monroe seems to want to take the relationship even further and she and Colin take off on a trip around England’s sights. This is further complicated by Colin’s romance with a wardrobe girl (Emma Watson). Will Colin allow himself to fall for Monroe even though everyone is warning him that she’ll just break his heart like so many others?

This is a perfectly acceptable romp all done in a terribly British way. You get the sense that the producers are aiming this at the market that flocked to The King’s Speech last year. There are some reasonably funny moments, especially from Toby Jones who has an all too brief cameo as Monroe’s agent. Eddie Redmayne is okay as Clark, although his constant toothy smiling does grate after a while. There’s fine support from Judi Dench as the formidable Dame Sybil Thorndike, who is one of the few on set to show Monroe some compassion and understanding.

Julia Ormond puts in a touching cameo as Olivier’s wife Vivien Leigh, but poor Emma Watson would really want to attend a few acting classes if she wants a post-Harry Potter career. Branagh though is a big disappointment as Olivier. It’s remarkable that he doesn’t get the voice right at all, considering he’s been impersonating him on chat-shows for years.

However the big question is how Williams does as Monroe and she is superb. Physically she put on weight to play the part and took choreography classes to learn how she moved and that all pays off. However it’s the way she captures Monroe’s tragic vulnerability and unique sexual appeal that really marks it out as a performance of really quality.

As a film it’s a classy piece of entertainment and not much more, but Williams’s performance should be the one to win awards.

- Jim O’Connor