petervintner Lots of reviewers scoffing at the veracity of the premise of the story. Some claiming incredulity that anyone could believe the story. I don't really understand that criticism. For me the veracity of the story is secondary, or tertiary even, to its believability on screen. Having said that I don't really know what kind of lives the critics of the story have had - black and white, with simple 2-dimensional characters I should imagine. In real life (my life at least) people do unexpected things. Troubled people are even more likely to do the unexpected. So I found it quite believable.Anyway, I finally got around to watching this film on DVD recently, long after critics and fans had moved on to newer pickings. I watched it 3 times in a week, and will certainly watch it again in the near future. I think it was well cast and well acted, and planted firmly and believably in the late 1950s. Suffice to say Michelle Williams is heartbreakingly good as Marilyn Monroe.

TheLittleSongbird 'My Week With Marilyn' had much going for it, considering the cast pedigree and the subject. It is always hard making biographical dramas of actresses known for their beauty or portraying the actresses themselves, as evidenced by the wildly variable executions of how well they come off or not.Whether it is a completely truthful account of Marilyn Monroe's life at this chapter of her life or not was never going to cloud my judgement of how to rate and review 'My Week With Marilyn'. What mattered much more was how the film fared on its own two feet, and 'My Week With Marilyn' fares mostly very well and is beguiling stuff. Not one of the greatest biopics ever made (in a list that includes 'Amadeus' and 'The Elephant Man') but generally of the portrayals of actresses known for their classic beauty it's one of the better-faring ones.By all means, there are flaws. The direction can be rather blandly workmanlike and there is too much of a heavy-footed feel that jars with the lightness of the material itself. The film has a tendency to drag in the more intimate scenes with Monroe and Clark, which does suffer from occasional disjointed-ness, some trite moments and lack of chemistry at times.Julia Ormond is also badly miscast as Vivien Leigh, it is a very phoned in and indifferent performance that anybody not familiar with the actress herself but is aware of her reputation will question her appeal, she is also somewhat too healthy-looking (but also not beautiful enough) for a woman plagued with physical and mental health problems in her later years. To a lesser extent, Dominic Cooper struck me as too young and doesn't have much to do to really register.However, 'My Week With Marilyn' looks wonderful. The production and costume design were among the most visually exquisite and evocatively designed of that year, the period is perfectly evoked that it's like you've been transported back in time and are actually there and it's a beautifully shot film (not as incredible of that for 'The Tree of Life' and 'Hugo' but close). The soundtrack brilliantly and beautifully captures the mood of the film, it's sensitively composed without being too low-key and never intrusive or too made for television. It's also evocative of the period.Not everything in the script works, there are some trite and disjointed parts but they are far outweighed by the very thought-provoking, funny and sincere ones, it's fluff but very charming fluff. The storytelling drags occasionally, but is also very entertaining and heartfelt with the scenes with Monroe and Laurence Olivier being particularly intriguing and well done.Ormond aside, the acting is very good. Michelle Williams allures and completely captivates as Monroe herself, blending a sultriness, childlike lust and a darker and more destructive nature seamlessly. She matched by Kenneth Branagh's spot-on Olivier, being hilarious, sympathetic and believable in his exasperation, Judi Dench's splendid Dame Sybil and Zoe Wanamaker's gleefully scene-stealing and wonderfully stern turn. Dougray Scott has been criticised by some, personally had little problem with him, and there is much more of a resemblance to him as Arthur Miller than Ormond as Leigh, other than his American accent being overdone.Eddie Redmayne gives a very sensitive portrayal in a role deliberately not written as interestingly as the rest, as, despite being the film's heart, he is not the film's focus and was never intended to be as meaty as Monroe or Olivier.On the most part, 'My Week With Marilyn' was very worthwhile and beguiling. Well worth the time, as long as watched as a film on its own two feet and not as a history lesson. 7/10 Bethany Cox

joe-pearce-1 I read THE PRINCE, THE SHOWGIRL, AND ME by Colin Clark only two or three years back, and it was an enjoyable enough book. But I had no particular interest in seeing the film that had already been made from it. I was wrong! The movie is something of a sleeper, or, if you will, a minor delight throughout, almost totally because of the performances, but also because the film seems a bit more moving, and certainly catches Marilyn Monroe's character better than does the book. And therein the big surprise: Michelle Williams is downright wonderful as Monroe, by far the best of the various Marilyn Monroes (or pastiches of same) that we have seen over the years. Although not as astounding as the original in purely physical terms, she does look very much like her, and manages to always sound like Monroe without the constant added breathy quality that all the others overindulge themselves in. I must say right here that I have never been a big Monroe fan, for I feel she had a natural but very limited acting talent (one can hardly imagine her playing Lady Macbeth, Norma Desmond or Stella Dallas). Michelle Williams's performance as her in this film is probably ten times better than she could have done it herself. One feels and feels for this Marilyn Monroe, much more so than one ever felt for any original Monroe character (except maybe in portions of BUS STOP). Williams also doesn't sing quite as well as Marilyn could and occasionally did; Monroe's singing voice was both more musical and more sexy. A wonderful job, and I obviously must see more of Ms. Williams. Kenneth Branagh (he's the real reason I bought the film) was superb throughout as Olivier; even if he never looks anything like him, he certainly sounds like him in the amazing variety of his subtle vocal inflections (of which Olivier was the absolute master). Also, in 1956 Olivier, even with all that princely make-up, still had, at 49, the remnants of his very handsome youthful self. Branagh is a great actor, but handsome? Afraid not. Julia Ormond as Vivien Leigh did okay, but looked a bit too solidly built for Vivien, who was really a very fragile-looking and often sickly woman by this time, Judi Dench was fine as Sybil Thorndike, Eddie Redmayne perfect for the storyteller, but I just loved the severe and almost ambitiously catatonic state that Zoe Wanamaker wandered around in 90% of the time as Paula Strassberg (the nearest thing Olivier had to a Nemesis on Earth!). Wanamaker, American-born, English-raised and now back to an American accent as the Mentor from Hell, who even goes so far as to call Marilyn 'bubbala' in one scene, is someone who adds stature to any cast she appears in, but this is as unlikely a role as I have ever seen her in. Anyway, a very enjoyable and moving film on a subject I had no expectation of being moved by. Bravo! (Gratuitously added comment: More than once in this film, Marilyn is referred to as the biggest female movie star in the world. See how telling a lie over and over again can make it seem like the truth? I would suggest that box-office receipts of the 1950s would show that Elizabeth Taylor, Doris Day, possibly Susan Hayward, and most definitely of all Deborah Kerr, were all bigger stars than Marilyn, even if she might have been the most publicized Hollywood figure of that decade.)

hamass-mujadid Colin, the apparent chum and tranquilizing love-buddy of Marilyn, fell for what appeared, and still appears as a matter of fact, to be the Greek goddess. It might have been a week for him, and an infinite clocks of wounds, but for the viewers of "My Week with Marilyn" it's only a bloody nightmare. Before going further, let's keep it clear that I loved the movie, the presentation is appreciable, and Eddie Redmayne was superb with his innocent looks and freckles. Kenneth Branagh was good too, only that there was nothing remarkably extraordinary in his act. Michelle Williams, while did justice to the task-at-hand, failed miserably at the hands of structural-mediocrity. The following might be offensive, but I'm not judging by her looks, I'm only stating plain, and hardcore facts that make her inauspicious for the role.Marilyn Monroe has no look-alike, and although some of modern-day actresses might imitate her style effectively, they may never do it the way she did—innately charming, and unflinchingly pound-making, if that's a word. Michelle Williams, while being awesomely good at acting, looks like a whore (prostitute for mild-readers). She's awfully broad-faced for Marilyn, has vacuum-cleaner lips, and is not pretty at all. Again, I have no issues with her acting, I never have, but c'mon, have some respect for one of the brilliant, and surely the most beautiful actress Hollywood has ever had to see. If you wanted a bloody Oscar nomination, you could have gone with Emilia Clarke (perfectly beautiful, knows how to act, has the mildly-chubby look for Marilyn, and most of all—not a whore (again, prostitute for mild-readers); just had to get rid of her British accent). Or, you could have gone with Carey Mulligan, who again, is far better than "Mr. Williams". Or it could have been Margot Robbie, Kate Hudson or Crystal Reed. Or you should have made the goddamn movie a decade earlier and had Nicole Kidman or Naomi Watts do the role! Everything was possible. You see, when it's about Marilyn Monroe, it's not only about acting. You could bring a real brothel-worker to ditto her acts, but that's the whole point, you don't have to just copy-paste them down, you gotta have the proper "diva", or it will just like a cheap and perverted, and night-club thingy. Why did you spoil such a beautiful theme, and such a brilliant imagery? I hate you for that.I agree that Michelle probably is only actress with plausible similarity in countenance, like a quarter of one-percent, compared with my suggestions (quarter of a quarter of one-percent). But audience would have liked anyone with half the beauty as Marilyn on board. They know no one can have her looks. Everybody's always reasonable, except those jerks behind the stages.P.S I loved Michelle in other movies—Brokeback Mountain, Blue Valentine, and several others.