Everyone remembers his first job, Colin Clark tells us at the beginning of this film. Very few of us, though, have so memorable a first job as Clark had: working with Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe on the set of “The Prince and the Showgirl” in 1956. As played by the talented Eddie Redmayne, Clark clearly knows how lucky he is: It’s written all over his face. So are his feelings about the woman he’s first in awe of, then in love with — Monroe, of course.
The key players in this real-life drama are dead. But they’re brought to life carefully and cleverly by a cast that makes real people out of the larger-than-life figures of the big screen. They also make what could have been a predictable melodrama instead a surprisingly warm, funny film. Its inevitable sadness comes from the screen, not from the story we think we know.
| On screen |
| ‘My Week With Marilyn’ |
| 3.5 out of 4 stars |
| Stars: Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne |
| Director: Simon Curtis |
| Rated: R for some language |
| Running time: 99 minutes |
At the center of all this is Michelle Williams, who is completely convincing as Marilyn Monroe at the height of her stardom. The blond bombshell has traveled across the pond to make a film in England. It’s an unlikely pairing: “the world’s greatest piece of ass,” as one character dubs her, starring alongside the man considered the world’s greatest actor (played by — who else? — Kenneth Branagh). When Olivier is frustrated, he begins quoting Shakespeare; when Marilyn is upset, she leaves the room crying, and retreats to the solace of drugs and drink.
It’s left to Clark, just 23, to keep things rolling. He’s hired as an assistant to Olivier, thanks to his connections. His parents know Olivier and his then-wife, Vivien Leigh, who’s played by a frumped-down Julia Ormond, ostensibly to make the contrast with the younger Monroe that much stronger. But when a doe-eyed Monroe asks whose side he’s on, he doesn’t have to think: “Yours, Miss Monroe.” When she responds, “Call me Marilyn,” it’s clear the boy will lose his heart — and gain a rather good story.
Williams is simply superb as the talented but troubled Monroe. Her work isn’t mere impersonation, though she has all the physical mannerisms down. She gives us more than a hint of the insecure actress’ core. Branagh is pitch-perfect as Olivier, of course. And Emma Watson is lovely as the girl who realizes quickly that she can’t compete with the most famous woman in the world.
But, as this very special film reminds us, who could?
