My Week with Marilyn is based on a novel written by Colin Clarke about the week he spent with Marilyn Monroe while she was filming The Prince and the Showgirl with Sir Laurence Olivier. The movie stars Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe, Eddie Redmayne as Colin Clarke, and Kenneth Branagh as Sir Laurence Olivier. The movie also features Dame Judi Dench as Dame Sybil Thorndike.
I’ve been interested in this movie since it was announced that Michelle Williams would be playing Marilyn Monroe. I am a big fan of Michelle Williams, but I must admit I was a little skeptical. I wasn’t sure if she would be able to bring such a seductive character to life. I was pleasantly surprised with her performance. I thought she played Marilyn Monroe better than the real Marilyn. She captured both sides of Marilyn Monroe—the sexy seductive side and the darker side of Marilyn Monroe. I must tip my hat to Ms. Williams for the job she did. She really did a good job of capturing the voice, mannerisms, and movements that made Marilyn Monroe such an iconic figure. I think she has a good chance of snagging a nomination for this role. Do I think this is the role that will FINALLY win her a much deserved Oscar? I’m not sure. Another thing that surprised me about this movie is the performance Eddie Redmayne delivered. I wasn’t familiar with Eddie Redmayne before this movie but I find myself intrigued by him. I went to his IMDB in an effort to learn more about him. His performance was rather endearing as I could feel that he truly loved Marilyn Monroe as a person and not a movie star. He was the most genuine person that came into her inner circle and I feel he had her best interests at heart. I believed him when he told her that he loved her.
As much I enjoyed Michelle Williams and Eddie Redmayne I have to be honest and say that Kenneth Branagh stole this movie. I was not expecting Sir Laurence Olivier to play such a significant role. The title of the film had me assuming that the movie was going to focus solely on the relationship between Marilyn Monroe and Colin Clarke and not really showcase the other actors. I’m glad I was wrong. He brought a comedic spark to the film that I was not expecting, but really enjoyed. He delivered the strongest performance and is the most memorable part of the film. I’m hoping he gets some recognition come awards season as I feel he is very deserving of a nomination.
I did have a couple issues with the movie--The first being that I felt there was no need to include a second love story subplot between Colin and Clark and Lucy (Emma Watson). I felt this relationship was unnecessary because it did nothing to drive the story forward. Emma Watson wasn’t bad by ANY means. It was great to see her play something other than Hermione Granger. I think she has potential to have a long film career, but she just wasn’t needed in this film. The second issue that both Sean and I had with the film is that so many movie “autobiographic” stories are told through the lens of somebody else. I understand that this movie is based on a book written by Colin Clark but it gets frustrating having to go through somebody else in order to learn about the person the movie is based on. I’d be interested to see what the movie would have been like if we experienced it from Marilyn’s perspective.
Overall, this movie was not what I was expecting and I am thankful for that. I was worried it was going to be an over-dramatization on the dark side of Marilyn Monroe. I’m happy that I was proven wrong. I think Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh should receive recognition for delivering really good performances.
My rating? A-
My Week With Marilyn
Directed By Simon Curtis
Release Date: November 23, 2011
Runtime: 99 mins
No comments:
Post a Comment